


Earth's Secret Army

by RedProtons



Series: Deal Of The Moment [1]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005), Sarah Jane Adventures, Torchwood
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Compliant, Children of Earth re-write, Gen, I actually put a lot of effort into the plot here, Multi, Pre - Utopia, Rewrite, Slow Burn, Some Humor, Tenth Doctor & Jack Harkness reunion, Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler Reunion, Whump-ish, pre - End of Days
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:01:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 27
Words: 168,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24633514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedProtons/pseuds/RedProtons
Summary: Something is changing fixed events, something powerful. A little nudge here, another there. It’s sent ripples through all of time and space, somehow causing the 456 to return to Earth a few years ahead of schedule. But how will things turn out now that Torchwood still have a fully functioning team, and Rose and co have somehow been pulled back into their home universe?[A sort of  re-write/ mass-fix-it, using the Children of Earth story line as a backdrop.]
Relationships: Gwen Cooper/Rhys Williams, Martha Jones/Mickey Smith, Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Series: Deal Of The Moment [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2023540
Comments: 167
Kudos: 128





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I was re-watching Children of Earth and I realised; wouldn't things have turned out differently if the characters actually talked to each other like they did in the Doctor who episode 'Journey's End?' What if I included more characters? Could it have turned out differently?
> 
> I've tried to write everyone as realistically as possible. This isn't a re-write, but a re-imagining. I've changed the timing slightly so the 456 arrive before the Torchwood episode: Captain Jack Harkness - it just works out better that way.
> 
> Rating wise this will be a 'T.' Expect to read what you' d see in a typical episode of Torchwood. Including; swearing, blood and gore (but not too graphic), violence, and lots of suggestive sexual language (pretty much all of it from Captain Jack Harkness).
> 
> Anyway, please enjoy and let me know what you think :)

1965- Scotland

Late into the night, a bus tumbled down a forgotten country road, with only the animals from the nearby farms for company. Inside, children were excitedly chatting, curious about where they were going and what kind of things they would do on their adventure.

Only one boy seemed to be weary of his new home, Clem. He nervously glanced around at his bus mates and wondered why they weren't nervous too. He had a sinking feeling deep in his tummy that something was wrong.

As he looked out onto the fields, he tried to make sense of the blurry shapes that whizzed past the window, but the bus was going too fast, and it was far too dark.

It was only when the bus stopped, in the middle of nowhere, that his friends started to look a little bit scared. But when the man driving the bus told them to leave, his friends exactly what they were told, much to Clem's dismay.

The man might've said they were going on an adventure, but Clem didn't trust this stranger one bit. Every time he looked at him he the sinking feeling in his tummy got worse. It was like the man was not meant to be there, like he was just wrong somehow. But Clem just couldn't work out why.

When he wearily stepped off the bus Clem could hardly see anything, the light from the bus barely made the road in front of him visible. He looked out into the distance for anything familiar but the lights from the far away farm houses looked like stars, and rolling fields blended with the night sky. So much so, he couldn't tell where the sky stopped and the hills began.

But then he noticed the soldiers, scary soldiers with guns and helmets.

Then suddenly, there was bright light. It was so bright it looked like it was day time again. Clem could tell the other children were scared too but when the man told them to walk they did.

He didn't.

The man looked him in the eye and said it was safe. He told him he'll be left out if he didn't go.

Clem didn't believe him, but he walked towards the light anyway.

And then everything went dark and the screams filled his ears.


	2. Day One: Chapter One - Another Day at the Office

* * *

_Market Street – Cardiff_

Around her the city was wide awake, getting ready to start the day. But Gwen was lost in her thoughts as she withdrew money from the ATM. She was switching between what she and Rhys were going to have for dinner that night and whether or not she had remembered to sign back in the automatic pistol she was using for target practice the other day... In the big underground secret based she worked at - just your average day-to-day stuff really.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by the calls from an increasingly angry mother yelling at her son. The boy looked about twelve and was just standing in the middle of the pavement, his eyes were unblinking and his body was frozen stiff.

Gwen would have chalked it up to the boy being a pain but then she heard the frustrated cries of a father, talking to his child; a girl. It was too much of a coincidence when both the boy and the girl started to move again at exactly the same time.

Little did she know, that all across the globe the same thing was happening, at the exact same time, to all the children in the world. Some parents noticed and some didn't but nevertheless, it happened.

* * *

_The Bay – Cardiff_

Gwen was making her way to the office, keen to follow up on what she had seen earlier.

To outsiders 'the office' was a shoddy tourist information centre. But, to those in the know it was a secret underground sci-fi base filled with the most unimaginable alien technology.

Glyn; a Water Taxi man, was one of those 'in the know.' He'd never been inside, but he knew enough that she could share some banter with him. He was looking out to sea on an upper platform above the entrance to the Tourist Centre.

"All right, Glyn? What's occurring?" she shouted up to him playfully.

"I've been watching the bay. No sea monsters." He replied back in the same tone.

"Ah, still early" she said with a big grin on her face as she reached the door.

"Morning, Gwen" a young man said to Gwen as she entered. Followed by a polite smile. He was standing to attention behind a small desk, dressed to the nines. He looked completely out of place compared to his surroundings, which looked like it got less funding than a recycling bin.

But of course, that was all part of the ploy.

"Morning Ianto," replied Gwen. "Anyone else in?" as she moved to a section of the wall next to the desk. Any tourist, that somehow found the place, would assume she was looking at the leaflets hanging from a plastic rack nailed on the wall.

"Just Tosh at the moment, but the others should be in soon." said Ianto, as he pushed a button hidden on the side of the desk and the whole wall slid to the side.

"Right, thanks Ianto" she said as she started to walk through the hidden entrance, unphased, and down the bricked corridor with slight determination.

"I take it you want me to put some coffee on?" he called after Gwen but she had already reached the lift at the end of the corridor.

"Ah thanks Ianto, you're a star!" she shouted back, holding the lift doors open. At that Ianto swiftly followed after her, careful to close the hidden wall panel behind him.

Once the lift had reached its destination, Gwen and Ianto stepped out and headed through the vault door into the massive, multi-storey, underground base. The white tiled brickwork and curved ceilings were similar to that of an old Victorian tube station, the metal spiral staircases and varnished wooden doors further added to the aesthetic, but the technology that was contained inside the hub was anything but old fashioned.

"Morning" Gwen called out as she entered the hub.

"Morning" replied Tosh, who was sitting at a large, hi-tech looking, computer terminal, with multiple screens. She had stopped typing when she heard Gwen enter.

"Tosh, could you do a quick search for me?" Gwen asked as she peered over the terminal.

"Yeah sure, what's this about?" asked Tosh curiously, as she looked towards Gwen, a bit surprised at the sudden request.

"Just something that happened this morning, these two kids just suddenly froze." Gwen explained.

"When you say froze…?" Ianto questioned, from the coffee machine, further down from Tosh's terminal.

"I mean two kids just completely stopped, just stopped moving at the exact same time. Completely different uniforms, completely different sides of the street" replied Gwen, ruling out the possibility of some sort of practical joke.

"Hmm that is weird." said Ianto.

"Like they were in some sort of trance?" asked Tosh.

"Sort of, yeah." said Gwen.

"Okay" said Tosh with a small nod of acceptance. "What do you want me to do?" She trusted Gwen's instinct, as she turned back to the computer screens.

"Can you see if there were any reports of incidents involving children? At ooo" Gwen looked at her watch with a puzzled expression, trying to work out the exact time that it happened. "Around ten to nine?"

"Sure, just give me a second" said Tosh, already hammering away at the keyboard, consumed with the task.

"Here" said Ianto, from behind Gwen, passing her a cup of coffee.

"Brilliant, thanks" said Gwen as she took the cup from his hand and took a swig, pure euphoria on her face. Nothing like Ianto's famous brew to kick her brain into gear.

"Thanks, Ianto" said Tosh glancing at the coffee, as Ianto placed the mug on a free space on the terminal. Ianto didn't say anything, but smiled briefly in acknowledgement. He knew how every member of the team liked to be served.

* * *

_St Helen's Hospital – Cardiff_

"Clear" called a young doctor as he pressed a defibrillator to an old man's chest, nurses standing around him, awaiting their next instructions.

A shock of electricity bolted through the old man's body as it jerked upwards in response. But, unfortunately, the monitor showed no improvement.

"And again" the same doctor ordered.

"Charging 200." replied one of the nurses.

"Clear." the doctor called again, placing the defibrillator on the man's chest for a second time.

Again, the man's chest jerked upwards but the monitor showed no sign of a heartbeat.

Looking down at the patient, it was clear to everyone present that he was too far gone.

"I think we should call it. Everyone agree?" the doctor said, as he looked at other nurses around the bed. They all nodded in agreement. " Okay. Time of death, O nine seventeen." He continued, looking at his watch. "Sally, I can leave it with you, yeah? I'll go and tell them."

The doctor patted Sally on the back and left the patient's bedside, jogging towards Jack and Owen, who were waiting in another room off of the main ward.

"I'm sorry. We did everything we could, but he didn't make it." the doctor said.

"Oh, that's a shame" said Jack, putting on his best grieving performance.

"Yeah, it's very sad" added Owen, whose performance was far less convincing and came across as impatient more than anything.

"Poor old Mister Williams" said Jack, casting his eyes down to the floor.

"Yes, it's very sad indeed" said Owen, this time trying a little harder to actually look it.

"There'll have to be an autopsy, but I'd say his heart gave out." the doctor explained, looking at the grieving neighbours.

"His … brave… old heart" Owen replied sadly, realising half way through how ridiculous it sounded, but shook it off and finished anyway.

"You were neighbours, is that right?" the young doctor asked.

"We live next door" Owen explained flatly.

"He's got no family to speak of. All on his own. We'd just keep an eye on him, you know be good neighbours." Jack explained; fake sadness still plastered on his face, in an attempt to make up for Owen's lack luster performance.

"Well, I'm sure he appreciated it. If only there were more like you two in the world." said the doctor, trying to bring some comfort to the couple.

Jack took in a sharp breath. "I know it's an imposition, but with us being such good neighbours. Can we see the body?" he asked as politely as he could.

"Of course" replied the doctor, "I'll take you through"

The doctor turned back towards the room he had just left and led Owen and Jack through to the ward. He opened the curtains shielding the body from the other patients.

"Bless him" said Jack, looking down sadly at the body, inwardly glad that it looked like this approach was going to work… this time.

As Jack's comment Owen gazed down towards the body with a frown. He made a cross gesture with his hands, like the one Catholics do when receiving communion. Luckily, it seemed the doctor wasn't religious enough to realise Owen had done it the wrong way.

"Say, do you think we could" Jack started, purposely hitching his voice. "er, just on our own." Jack waved his hand to his face, like he was trying to stop himself from crying.

"Course you can." said the doctor, sympathetic to the reasonable request. "Just come and find me, once you're done. And I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thank you" said Jack, sounding as grateful as possible. The doctor nodded in understanding and pulled back the curtain to give them some privacy.

But as soon as the curtains were closed, Owen and Jack sprang into action, all façades dropped. Owen pulled back the sheet covering the body while Jack rested an armoured brief case on a table next to the body and opened it.

"Does Torchwood offer acting lessons I don't know about?" asked Owen sarcastically. While he slipped on a pair of medical gloves and quickly checked over the body.

"No, and if there were I'd defiantly be sending you. Aren't doctors supposed to be good at pretending?" Jack retorted, as he gathered some of the tools from inside the case.

"One of the many reasons why I prefer working with corpses" said Owen jokingly, before adding quietly, "Human or otherwise." earning a slight chuckle from Jack.

Owen began lightly pressing the body's stomach. "Laser saw" he ordered, seeming to find what he was looking for.

"Laser saw" repeated Jack as he handed him a metal tube, which looked more like a posh electric razor than a saw.

Owen took the saw and aimed the razor looking part of it at the body's stomach; where he had just been pressing earlier. A sharp red beam of light shot out the end. And as Owen moved the device downwards in a straight line, the flesh on the body split open like a zipper, leaving the body's insides completely exposed.

"Tongs." Owen ordered.

"Tongs" Jack replied, handing them over.

Once the tongs were in Owen's hand he used them to search inside of the man's body with the precision one would expect from someone with medical training. Jack was glancing nervously at the curtain, hoping not to get any visitors.

"Got it" said Owen with confidence as he pulled out a black fleshy mass from the man's body with ease. It was the size of a heart and was pulsating like one too, but it looked like the warning pictures on cigarette packets; black and lumpy.

"Prep for transport" Owen ordered once more.

"Transport prepped" said Jack as he held open a cheap looking Tupperware container that looked like it came straight out of Poundland. In fact, the special offer sticker was still stuck on the outside of the box. Only the most advanced and dignified methods of transporting alien life were acceptable at Torchwood III.

Owen had just plopped the mass in the Tupperware container when the doctor from earlier pulled back the curtain. "And one more …" the doctor trailed off as he caught sight of the black mass throbbing in the plastic container.

Jack and Owen spun their heads round at the sound of the curtains opening, their faces looking like they had just been caught taking the last biscuit from the tin. "Shit" said Owen, slight frustration in his voice, staring at the shocked doctor.

The doctor's eyes slowly looked down at the body as he noticed the massive incision. All this was too much to process as his eyes widened in utter disbelief.

"Now, look at it. That's not human, is it?" Jack said quickly to the doctor, as he lifted the Tupperware container on its side just enough so the mass didn't fall out but that the doctor could see.

The doctor's breathing became more laboured as Jack continued. "Does that look human? No, it does not. It's just a hitchhiker he picked up. It didn't kill him."

"Some say they're positively beneficial. They release endorphins into the bloodstream. He died a happy man." said Owen as Jack placed the lid on the Tupperware box and placed it into the armoured briefcase.

"And don't worry about explaining this to upstairs, they won't even know we were here." continued Owen as he took the laser saw from earlier and pointed it at the incision he had just made. This time a blue beam of light shot out the end and Owen traced the incision he had just made. The doctor's mouth opened wider as the wound closed itself; leaving no scar.

"Thank you very much. We'll just get out of your way." said Jack as Owen tossed him the saw and they marched out of the ward they were in. It took the doctor a generous amount of seconds before he recovered from his shock and began chasing after them.

"Wait a minute. Wait a minute!" he called, but they were too far ahead and his path to them was blocked by the everyday goings on of the hospital.

It was only once they were in the car park that the doctor had a clear line of sight to the strange pair. But they were still too far ahead and were heading in the direction of a black SUV type car. He had to slow them down somehow, the doctor thought, as he started running to catch up with them.

"Whatever it was, that was mutilation. I should report you." he yelled, but they didn't stop - at all.

"Yeah, good luck with that." Owen called back, not even turning his head to speak.

"But that thing. What the hell was it, that hitchhiker?" the doctor asked stuttering out each word, trying to close the distance between them.

"Try putting it into a report." Jack offered, not slowing down as he unlocked the SUV. All the doctor's attempts to get them to stop were failing horribly as he finally managed to catch up to them.

"You're Torchwood" he called, but still nothing as the two men climbed into the car, Jack at the driver's side.

"Never heard of them." Jack replied, brushing it off, as he slammed the car door in the young doctor's face and started the car.

"There are bodies going missing." the doctor blurted out, desperate to get them to stay.

At the statement Jack and Owen glanced at one another, Owen giving a small nod before Jack rolled down the window.

"How many?" Jack asked in a demanding tone.

The doctor's body relaxed as he realised he had finally gotten their attention.

"This whole city talks about you." He said in amazement.

But Owen just rolled his eyes at the statement. "Yeah get on with it mate." he demanded, looking over to the doctor.

The doctor took a breath inwards before continuing, he had been preparing for this for a long time, and he had practised the pitch over and over. It had to be done right. He couldn't give anything away. "It started two months ago. Bodies, taken down to the mortuary, then the records just stop. Five of them. Five in two months. And none of them white. One of West Indian decent, one African, three Chinese. All male." He explained.

Jack seemed to consider this for a moment before asking "What's was your name again?"

"Rupesh. Rupesh Patanjali" the doctor replied obediently.

Jack turned to face Owen and asked "What do y' think?"

Owen gave a hesitant shrug before answering "Could be something."

"Yeah" agreed Jack as he turned back to face Rupesh. "We'll look into it." and shifted back into his seat, ready to drive off.

"I can help." the doctor practically blurted out.

"Yeah, sorry. We're not hiring" said Jack as he started the ignition.

"No don't wait" cried Rupesh. But it was too late. By the time the last word had left his mouth Torchwood had driven off.

* * *

_The Home Office – London_

It was looking to be a usual busy day at the office for John Frobisher, back to back meetings scheduled and there was bound to be a pile of paperwork waiting for him when he arrived. But John knew it was going to be a very long day indeed, when he turned the corner to the entrance of his department only to find Colonel Oduya from UNIT waiting to greet him. His face dropped.

"Oh Christ" he exclaimed, making no attempt to be polite.

"Good morning, sir." said Bridget, his assistant who stood up from her desk to greet him.

"Morning to you, too." Colonel Oduya said sarcastically, at almost the same time as Bridget. He looked slightly offended by John's comments as he read something from a leather bound file he was holding.

"Colonel Oduya for you, sir. Unscheduled. I'd remind you, you've got the Category Meeting at quarter past." Bridget reminded Frobisher to which he replied with a grateful nod before moving over to the Colonel.

"You'd better come through." said John, gesturing the Colonel towards his office.

"Thank you" said Colonel Oduya, as he moved past John and into his office.

John Frobisher wasted no time. "Just tell me it's something small." he said frustratingly. "Tell me it's a, it's a meteorite, or a shadow on the moon. Just for once, tell me it's easy." said John like when a teacher asks their children to be quiet; both know it's never going to happen, but pray for it anyway. He sat down at his desk and gestured for the Colonel to take the seat opposite.

"Might be nothing, sir." said the Colonel, as he took the seat. "But it's my job to inform the Government, even if it turns out to be a false alarm." He continued.

"Then what is it? asked John, unable to hide the fear on his face. These days it could be anything from mind-controlling fizzy drink to a hospital on the moon.

"Children, sir. It's the children." stated the Colonel and John tilted his head in confusion.

* * *

_Torchwood III – Cardiff_

Tosh, Gwen and Ianto were busy reading the information on the screens when they heard the warning alarm for the vault door start to ring and two familiar voices call up from the steps.

"Sorry, sorry we're late." called a young woman with bleach blonde hair - although her darker roots made it clear it wasn't her natural hair was a few shades darker - as she trotted down the steps to the desks.

"Yeah, sorry, yeah" called a young black man, following close behind her.

"Don't worry about it, Jack's not even here yet" said Tosh but her eyes were still locked on the screen.

"So, who's fault was it this time?" Ianto asked, turning around to greet the woman with a polite smile, although there was a glimmer of annoyance in his tone.

"Mickey." the blonde woman announced playfully, either ignoring Ianto's tone or oblivious to it. "He couldn't find his favourite jumper."

"It's not my favourite jumper Rose, it's my lucky jumper. And after what that creepy old lady said to me yesterday I'm not taking any chances" Mickey explained, pointing an accusing finger at Rose, to which she held her hands up in defeat as if to say 'fine.'

"The green one? The one you said was the reason you escape that Weavel last week?" asked Ianto.

Tosh had only now took her eyes off the screens in front of her and shifting her attention to the new arrivals, swivelling on her office chair to face them. Gwen, who was still consumed with the search, took over from Tosh the second Tosh turned around to speak with the group.

Mickey nodded "Yeah." as he pulled part of the jumper from under his jacket and kissed it.

"You can't seriously believe a piece of clothing increases your chance of survival it's statically impossible." Tosh argued.

"How can you believe in impossible when you work here? I'm telling you it's lucky" Mickey retorted.

"I'm telling you it's psychological…" Tosh began while Ianto and Rose braced themselves for an argument.

"Oi, you lot" Gwen interrupted, after the search on the computer screen had finished and her eyes widened at the results. "As much as I'd love to hear this again. We might have a situation here."

And at Gwen's words the team shifted back into action and started to fill Rose and Mickey in on the details.

* * *

_The Home Office - London_

"When you say children?" John Frobisher asked, his fingers linked together, touching his chin.

"Between 8:40 and 8:41 this morning there were seventeen reports of road traffic accidents, all of them involving children." Colonel Oyuda explained with professionalism.

John absorbed the information for a moment, knowing there must be more to the story for UNIT to show up in his office, but desperately wanting there to be a reasonable explanation for the incidents.

"Right… I mean, is that unusual?" He asked. "8:40 would be the school run after all" he finished, unable to hide the desperation in his voice.

"I am afraid not, Sir." said the Colonel. John nervously started fidgeting, unsure what to do with his hands "I see" he said, all hope crushed.

"Seventeen traffic accidents in the exact same minute, all involving children, is hardly usual" explained the Colonel, before continuing, which in itself caused John to stop fiddling and began to listen intently.

"And that's not all sir. The manner in which these incidents occurred are also identical" the Colonel paused a moment to allow John to process the information but continued on when he saw that John was beginning to understand the urgency of the situation. "All accidents occurred because all the children, stopped"

"Stopped?" John asked

"Frozen, Sir. Not moving at all. All the children, just stopped and froze in the middle of the road, in the exact same minute."

"My God" John exclaimed, but continued to listen once he realised the Colonel was, unfortunately, not finished.

"But the accidents are just one part of a picture." the Colonel continued, as he shifted forward in his chair and opened the file he was looking at earlier. "Because every other child stopped at the same time. And not just in Britain."

* * *

_Torchwood III – Cardiff_

"But, how is 'at possible?" asked Rose, as she looked over Tosh's shoulder and studied the information in front of her. The screen showed the locations of all the traffic accidents.

"You haven't seen anything like this before?" asked Tosh, turning her head to, but not facing, Rose. The rest of the team also turned to Rose, eagerly awaiting her answer.

"I've seen something that targeted kids before." She explained, before quickly changing to a dismissive tone. " But, that was a tiny village and even then, they needed this massive transmitter thing for it to work. We'd 've noticed something by now if they were effecting all of the kids in Britain"

Mickey and Gwen nodded in agreement but Tosh wanted to be sure.

"I'll run a check on any suspicious communication projects, cell towers, that sort of thing. Just in case." Tosh suggested.

"Yeah, better safe than sorry, thanks" replied Rose.

Ianto, who had been lost in his own thoughts, suddenly asked "Are we sure it's only Britain?" and the whole team turned to face him, it was almost as if you could see the light bulb above their heads flicker to life.

"Mickey." Rose called as Mickey weaved past the others towards another terminal further away from Tosh's. "I'm on it, yeah" he replied as he quickly sat down on the chair and started up the computer. The team followed him - apart from Tosh, who was still working on her own terminal - and crowded around him.

"Give it me a sec." asked Mickey as the computer powered up. "Okay here we go, same reports from France. Fifteen road traffic accidents this time. All timed around nine forty. But y' see,.." he pointed wildly at the screen. "…they're an hour ahead, so it happened at the same time."

"All involving children?" asked Gwen, studying the information.

"Yeah" replied Mickey.

"Hold on I can cross reference the data. Got it" said Tosh, typing away on the keyboard as Gwen rushed over to her terminal. "Reports coming in. RTAs in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Luxembourg"

"Germany, India, Egypt, Guyana, Spain" Mickey continued, also typing away at the computer, Rose and Ianto looking intently over his shoulder at the new information.

"Portugal, Bosnia, Tokyo, Singapore" Tosh continued.

"Wait, I'm getting a live report from America, same thing" said Mickey, Gwen rushing over to his terminal to glance at the information, Rose and Ianto allowing her through.

"So, it's got to be all of them." Gwen concluded disbelief in her voice. "Every single child in the world"

It was at that moment, that Jack and Owen decided to barge in.

"Good everyone's here" Jack announced, carrying the metal briefcase in his hand. "Tosh, Mickey I need you to run a search on Saint Helen's Hospital, specifically the morgue." he explained as he wiggled out of his coat and handed to Ianto - who was still standing by the terminal. "Once you've finished check the other local hospitals, you're specially looking for non-white victims" Jack continued, as he marched towards his office, unaware of the tone of the room which was still focused on the revelation they had experienced mere seconds ago. "Rose, Gwen head back to the hospital and start interviewing the staff, maybe they know something, DON'T say you're Torchwood or people might get skittish."

By this time Owen had cottoned on that something had happened and was reading the screens to try and get a better idea of what was going on. But Jack was still completely clueless, who was now hunting for something in his office. "Owen, see if we have any Doe's that fit the victims' description, we might need to cover this up. Once Mickey and Tosh have the files I want you to comb through their medical records, see if there's anything that links them." He yelled out to his team before finding what he was looking for and started to head back towards the team. "Ianto, prepare a wipe for a doctor Rupesh Patanjali, works at St Helen's hospital, he's the one who put us on to the bodies. He seems persistent enough that he'll start looking for us and we can't have that." Jack continued, as he moved past Ianto and took his coat from him, still not realising that Ianto or the other's hadn't moved an inch. "Oh" said Jack, for a second looking like he had finally read the room before adding "And put that into storage will you?" handing Ianto the armoured briefcase containing the Tupperware box.

Jack had just put on his coat and was about to head out the entrance when he glanced back to his team and finally realised that none of them had moved and were all standing around, not rushing into action like they usually did on such occasions. Gwen, Mickey and Owen were looking at him like he was a complete idiot. Ianto and Tosh were too polite to look annoyed and were just awkwardly waiting for him to realise something was up. And Rose was looking at him with a cheeky grin, arms folded, and shaking her head disappointingly, finding amusing how long it had took him to realise something was going on.

Jack let out an exaggerated sigh before saying "What'd I miss?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter Title: We don't need a Doctor
> 
> When: ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	3. Day One: Chapter Two - We don't need a Doctor

_The Home Office – London_

John Frobisher could not believe what he was hearing; every single child had stopped moving. He flicked though the numerous files Colonel Oduya had just handed him. There was no denying it now. Whatever it was, it was happening and it was global, and there was slim chance it wasn't alien. Although, he still prayed for it not to be.

"Until we receive further information, we don't know if it's extraterrestrial in origin." Colonel Oduya informed John, sitting back into his chair. "Though the United Nations has taken UNIT up to yellow alert, just in case."

John raised his eyebrows at the statement. "Bloody hell."

There was a knock at the door and a new girl that he had never seen before entered the room.

"And Colonel Mace, how is he getting on?" said John, fumbling to change the subject to something less classified. The woman, handed mugs of coffee to both of them while the Colonel answered; in a far less suspicious manner than John. "He's fine. Wouldn't mind a post in Vancouver myself. Wonderful countryside, so they say."

"Nice for some." John replied with more composure, as he kept a close eye on the woman, as she started to introduce herself.

"Sorry. My name's Lois. Lois Habiba. Just started today. I'm helping out Miss Spears while they introduce the new computer system." she finished with an awkward smile as she couldn't think of what else to say.

"Thank you." he said, which seemed to satisfy Lois as she smiled and left the room. John gave a small sigh of relief that he had managed to not arouse any suspicion. But the Colonel was not thrown at all as he continued.

"You have two daughters, is that right?" the he asked, sitting back on the chair.

"Yeah." John replied sadly. "Maybe I should get them home from school."

"I'd be careful, Sir." said the Colonel, causing John to look up at him questionably. "I wouldn't do anything to draw any attention." he explained. "Right now, this thing's random enough to go unnoticed, and if anyone files a news report, we'll be crushing it. But, so far, we're the only ones with the software clever enough to piece this all together." The Colonel paused briefly and added. "Well, us and Torchwood."

John rolled his eyes at the mention of the team. They were tiny compared to the power they used to have, just a minor annoyance more than anything. But, "Do you want me to talk to them? They're a pain in the backside, but they can be helpful." John asked the Colonel.

"We're on to them right now." he replied smugly.

* * *

_Torchwood III – Cardiff_

"Okay if you find out anything let me know immediately." Jack said in frustration as he hung up the phone.

Rose and Gwen were hovering around waiting for any new information. The others were working at their respective stations, now focusing on the children's case and not the missing bodies in the morgue. Including Ianto, who had gone upstairs to maintain the tourist information centre cover, and keep an eye on the CCTV - in case another incident should happen.

"It's times like this I miss the old regime." Jack complained, Rose and Gwen just shot him confused looks.

"UNIT used to treat us with respect when we called. Now what do I get? I get Sergeant Grunt. I'm talking to a Sergeant." Jack continued in the same complaining tone, but both Gwen and Rose could tell it wasn't serious.

"What about Sarah Jane?" asked Rose. Gwen shot her a confused glare, she'd never heard the name Sarah – Jane before.

"Already called. She said Mr Smith is scanning the atmosphere as we speak, but unless there's another incident it was too brief to get any usable information." Jack replied, and Rose nodded in understanding.

Gwen had no idea who they were on about but the feeling wasn't exactly new and she knew better than to bother asking. "What about the Sergeant, Jack? What did he say?" she asked.

"UNIT base in Washington is running some tests on a couple of kids. Brain scans, blood sugar, checking for radiation. Nothing."

Whatever conversation was about to follow was interrupted by Ianto coming down into the Hub, towards Jack's office.

"Jack, you were right, he's back" said Ianto as he stood the door way to Jack's office.

Jack smirked. "Knew it." he said and headed out of his office. Gwen and Rose exchanged glances before following him.

"Camera six" Ianto called to Jack, just as Jack brushed past him and moved towards Mickey's terminal.

"You heard the man." said Jack, to Mickey. "Bring up camera six." Mickey scrunched up his face and looked at Jack begrudgingly. Jack was so rude sometimes. "A please would be nice, y'know."

"Bring up camera six" said Jack, before adding a strained, "Please." at the end.

Mickey rolled his eyes but hit the final button that brought up the live feed from camera six. It showed the doctor Owen and Jack had met in the hospital earlier. He was wondering around the bay looking very lost and carrying a file in his hand.

"Sorry, who's back?" Rose asked, joining Jack at Mickey's terminal.

"The bodies going missing man." Jack explained, as he looked at the live feed from the camera. "Doctor Patanjali."

"And what you just let him follow you?" Gwen asked, examining the screen.

"Ask about Torchwood, and most people point towards the Bay." Ianto explained.

Gwen started chuckling to herself and Rose and Mickey turned to look at her, baffled for a moment. But before they had a chance to ask Gwen said, "Oh. You bastards." which only caused Jack grin wildly at Gwen's realisation, even Ianto let out a sly smile.

"What?" Rose asked, looking between them all.

"That's exactly what they did to me the first time we met." Gwen explained, causing Jack's grin to morph into a faint chuckle.

"Three bloody hours they let me stand out there." complained Gwen mockingly, making the others laugh more.

"Nah, they didn't." said Rose, gobsmacked, looking accusingly at Jack.

"Oh, yes we did." said Jack, like he was in a pantomime.

Rose shook her head in disappointment, tutting very loudly. "You're unbelievable sometimes, y' know that?" 

Jack winked at her and clicked his tongue.

"Freezing my fucking arse off, I was." Gwen continued "Pissing it down, and when I finally find the entrance to the hub, this lot pretend they can't even see me. So there's me with three boxes of bloody margarita pizza…"

Mickey mouthed "Pizza?" confusingly at Rose, who just shrugged if off. But, the rest of the team, however, exploded into a fit of hysterics, even Tosh was chucking silently.

Mickey rolled his eyes. There was some sort of inside joke here that Rose and he weren't privy to, one of those 'you had to be there' moments. 

Gwen got more energetic as she finished her story. "…standing there absolutely gob-smacked, praying they have change." 

Although Rose had not the foggiest why everyone was finding the word pizza so funny, the rest of the teams cackling was infectious.

Tosh, was unable to silence her laughter any longer "I can't believe you actually bought the pizza!" she exclaimed through her giggles.

"So, what about this Dr Patanjali?" asked Mickey flatly, not amused in the slightest. The rest of the team to calmed down and returned to their previous tasks.

"Ianto." said Jack a smile still on his face.

"Sir." said Ianto, mockingly standing to attention.

"Keep an eye on him will ya? Wait for him to leave."

"And if he doesn't?"

"If he finds the centre just play along, it's better for him to give up and go home than for us to have to retcon him." stated Jack.

"Yes, very good sir."

"Oh no." Mickey whispered to himself. He'd just faced back towards his terminal, where the live CCTV footage was still playing. In the bay, there was a girl staring off into space, trying to be pulled along by her mother. As he zoomed in he could just about see her blank expression on the grainy screen. He pulled up the feed from a different camera, there was another child doing the same thing.

"Guys, I think it's happening again." he called and the team sprang into action, gathering different sorts of alien scanning equipment and racing out the vault door.

Once they had reached the surface Dr Patanjali had already gone to help the mother of the first girl.

"Split up, gather as much data as possible." commanded Jack. The team obeyed and sprinted off in different directions, covering different children in the area.

Jack and Gwen raced up to the first girl. Dr Patanjali spun around when he saw Jack approach. "It's you." he said, surprised.

"Yeah, and we said we'd look into it, now go home." replied Jack, in no mood to speak with the man as he turned his focus onto the frozen child in front of him. Gwen started recording the on some sort of hi-tech device.

"But I can help you." he pleaded.

"We don't need _a_ doctor." Jack said sternly, causing Dr Patanjali raise his hands in mock surrender and back away from the child.

* * *

_Wembley Park - London_

On some ordinary, residential, London street a, seemingly, normal man and woman were walking down the pavement. They both seemed smartly dressed and would certainly be able to blend in to the crowd; the man in a blue suit and a long, brown, coat and the woman wearing a red leather jacket.

Although, anyone stuck behind them would think the man was speaking another language as words like 'techo insulation' and 'self-cleaning rapid fire vacuum cleaners' spewed from his mouth. That or he was on day release.

But then something from a school playground, on the opposite side of the road, caught the woman's eye. All the children were frozen in place, even those who were mid-kick or step. As she observed the teachers' panicked reactions it was clear to her that this wasn't a practical joke or a weird school 'lining up' policy like she had in her school. She stopped and squinted her eyes in the direction of the playground.

The man was completely oblivious and now several paces ahead of her, mouth still moving a mile a minute.

"Oh my God. Doctor look at the children." Martha called, as she continued to look towards the school.

"What children, where?" asked the Doctor, snapped out of his ramblings by Martha's shocked tone. He turned around to face her only to find that she was no longer by his side, causing him to look back down the path. He quickly jogged to where she was standing and followed her line of sight. His face fell as he saw the children and could instantly tell something very not good was happening.

"They've stopped. All of them they've just stopped." exclaimed Martha.

A teacher closest to them was gently shaking one of the frozen children and when the child didn't respond in the slightest the Doctor started running towards them, Martha following right behind him.

"Come on!"

The Doctor crossed the road; paying little mind to oncoming traffic, and followed the wire fencing that enclosed the playground. He ran towards a locked gate, connecting the playground to the street, reaching into his jacket pocket as he ran. With a quick whirl of the sonic screwdriver the padlock clicked open and the Doctor hurried into the school's playground, Martha a close second behind.

As he approached one of the frozen children, a member of staff sprinted towards him, thinking him to be some sort of opportunistic kidnapper. Not slowing down, the Doctor quickly grabbed the physic paper from another pocket and pushed it right in the teacher's face. When it became clear that the teacher wanted more time to inspect it the Doctor let go of the paper; chucking it in the teacher's general direction so he could continue towards the children without stopping.

Luckily the physic paper seemed to put the teacher's mind to rest as she inspected carefully and gave nod of approval to the other rapidly approaching teachers and mid-day supervisors on the playground, who quickly turned their attention back to the children.

Meanwhile, the Doctor had already crouched down to the nearest child and started scanning them with the sonic screwdriver.

"What's happened to them?" Martha asked as she approached a different child and started checking them over as much as her Earth medical training would allow her to.

However, it wasn't the Doctor that answered her, but the teacher who had met them at the gate.

"We don't know, they all just stopped." she explained shakily. "The same thing happened this morning, we have no idea why they're doing it."

The Doctor was examining their features carefully, looking for any sort of change. Then, without warning, all of the children suddenly opened their mouths and stared to scream a high pitched screech, causing the Doctor to stumble backwards as he recoiled at the grating sound.

"Oh my God!" yelled Martha as she stood up and starting frantically scanning all the children in the playground.

The Doctor also started spinning on his heels, trying to look at as many children as possible. All the children were all doing the same thing. They were all screaming.

Meanwhile, the other teachers on the playground looked at one another in panic. As they realised was defiantly not a practical joke. One of the other teachers further away from Martha and the Doctor tried to drag one child, who was frozen, uncomfortably, mid-hop, to a nearby bench.

The Doctor swerved in their direction instantly.

"No! Don't touch them!" the Doctor yelled across the playground, pointing at the teacher. "Move them when they're like this and you could break a bone."

The teacher immediately stepped away from the child.

"What's happening to them?" the closest teacher asked terrified.

"It seems like, like, some sort of vocal cord synchronisation." The Doctor suggested, returning his focus to the children as he scanned a different child with the sonic screwdriver. However his words were of little comfort to the teacher and made little sense to Martha.

"Synchronising with what?" the teacher asked, holding back panicked tears. Martha; keeping a clear head, went over to the teacher to try and calm her.

"It's okay. He knows what he's doing." She tried her best to comfort her, reassuring her and patting her gently on the shoulder.

Only a few seconds later the screaming died down, replaced with silence, just for a moment. All the adults on the playground searched the children's faces for any sort of sign that they were back to normal.

" _We_." all the children in the playground said simultaneously.

"Oh my God. What's happening?" whimpered the teacher, while Martha held her with one arm. She glanced over to the Doctor and hoped he would do something soon, the staff were starting to lose it.

The Doctor had his back to them as he looked out to the sea of chanting children. His eyes were filled with panic as they darted from child to child. There were so many things that could cause this and a lot of them had catastrophic side effects.

" _We, we, we._ " the children continued, still in complete unison. The adults looked on in horror.

" _We, we, we are, we are._ "

"Something's trying to establish a vocal link connection through the children." the Doctor explained, getting more and more agitated.

" _We are, we are, we are coming._ "

"Doctor, what is, what's doing this?" Martha asked the panic starting to show in her voice. She was still trying to help the teacher, whose breathing was getting shallow.

" _We are coming._ "

"I don't know." he answered as he ran his hand nervously through his hair. "I just don't know, I need… I need more information." he stuttered out, not taking his eyes off the children.

" _We are coming_."

"But there must be something?" Martha pleaded

" _We are coming._ "

The Doctor turned and directly at Martha "Yes, but then I might hurt them."

Suddenly there was a explosion of noise and laughter, for by the time the Doctor had finished speaking all the children had resumed playing as though nothing had happened.

* * *

_The Baker Residents - East Grinstead_

"We are coming, We are coming." said Timothy, in the unison with the children, the same vacant stare in his eyes. Only, Timothy wasn't a child but a fifty-two year old man; grey-haired and wrinkled face. An older woman caught sight of him from the kitchen, her face filled with panic and she instantly rushed towards him.

It took a while for her to reach him, given that the old detached house she was in was so large and Timothy was outside in the garden.

"Tim, Tim, it's me, it's Sophie, your sister, you're okay, you're safe." the older woman tried to calm him, but when he didn't stop she became panicked as well.

" _We are coming. We are coming_."

"Mandy!" she yelled into towards the house. After a few seconds had passed and no one had emerged from the house, the woman tried again. "Mandy!" but nothing. The woman turned back to her brother and tried to pull him into the house, but he stayed fixed on the spot.

" _We are coming. We are coming._ "

"Clem." she whispered in his ear. "It's me. it's okay." but still the man continued chanting.

And a few seconds later a much younger woman, with short curly hair and a pink apron, came rushing out. She had clearly been running as fast as she could as she was panting heavily. Her eyes searched the enormously large back garden until she found the pair.

" _We are coming. We are coming._ "

"Mandy, it's happening again, call Dr Belle!" Sophie yelled with clear urgency. Mandy nodded quickly before rushing back inside the house.

"And bring the camera!" Sophie called again, not wanting to leave her adopted brother's side and she continued to try and comfort him. She wasn't sure if Mandy heard her but was relieved when a few moments later Mandy returned with the camera and started filming.

Tim was still repeating the same phrase, " _We are coming. We are coming_." over and over again. Mandy had only managed to record half a minute of footage before Timothy fell to the ground in sobs.

"It's okay, I've got you." said Sophie, but it had little effect.

"They've found me, Sophie, they've finally found me." said Timothy, before breaking down completely. Sophie pulled him into a strong hug, which he returned, still sobbing uncontrollably.

* * *

_The Bay – Cardiff_

Despite the looks from shocked parents and onlookers, the children continued as though nothing had happened. The team glance at each other before turning and rushing towards the Tourist Centre. And in defiance of Jacks wishes, Dr Patanjali followed after them.

He managed to get to the waterside entrance before Jack spun around, holding up his palm to the doctor. "Whoa, whoa. Where'd you think you're going?" Jack, demanded. The rest of the team stopped to face Jack and the doctor.

"I could help, seriously" Patanjali pleaded.

"I told you we're not interested, now go home, or better yet go back to the hospital because people will need you. But leave, because if you don't I'll have no choice but to wipe your memory and you strike me as the kinda guy who would like to remember something like this." Jack warned, with a dangerous look in his eye.

Dr Patanjali held his hands up in defeat. "Okay, I'm going." he declared as he walked back towards the bay. His chance gone.

Satisfied, Jack turned back to the Tourist Centre entrance and the team followed his actions.

"I'll get on to the Home Office. This thing's gone public. They're gonna need us." said Jack as he and the rest of the team marched down the corridor towards the lift. "Mickey, I want you to upload the footage that we've just taken and see if you can make sense of that audio." Jack continued as the whole team squished into the small lift to take them down to the hub. "Owen, analyse the recordings of the medical scans we took, I know it's not much but see if there's anything you can spot. Tosh, run a check on the videos being uploaded to the net, chatter from the other organisations, see if there's anything we missed."

There was a ding as the lift reached the floor and the team got off and marched towards the vault door, Jack still giving orders as he went. "Gwen reach out to your contacts in the police and have them issue a statement, we can at least do some damage control here in the city." As they climbed up the stairs each team member retreated to their respective stations, leaving only Rose and Ianto, as Jack walked to his office, still speaking as he went. "Rose, contact Sarah- Jane; see if she picked up anything new now that there's been another incident."

"Right." said Rose as he walked off to find somewhere quiet.

"And Ianto." Jack added, now at the entrance to his office, but stopped just short of the door, so he could finish what he had to say.

"Yes, sir?" Ianto replied, slight hope in his voice that he'd finally be asked to do something more important.

"We could really use some of your world famous coffee about now." Jack stated.

"Yes, sir." said Ianto, again, unable to hide his disappointment, his shoulders drooping slightly once Jack walked past him.

One of these days.

* * *

_The Home Office – London_

The phones were ringing constantly, busy people rushing about trying to make a dent in the chaos that recent incident had created. It was a surprise that everyone in the John Frobisher's department remembered their head was on their shoulders.

Both Bridget and Lois – John Frobisher's personal assistants were up to their neck in calls and requests. Lois could barely keep up with it all and it was only her first day.

When John did return to the office he was being heckled by government aides, demanding information and asking if he was liaising with a department called UNIT, which Lois had never heard of.

"Anyone else, just tell them no, Bridget. No more calls." John instructed the older woman, who herself was getting swarmed by a crowd of important looking people in expensive suits. Lois felt guilty that she couldn't be of more help. She wasn't surprised when Bridget came to her desk.

"I'll have to abandon the press list. Can you set up an autoreply? You'll have to get into my account. That's the username, Spears, password Hastings. capital H, rest of it lower case." Bridget hurriedly explained before rushing back to her desk.

A grey haired old man entered the office and Lois saw how Bridget's face dropped.

"Bridget, I want to see Mister Frobisher." the man demanded and Bridget instantly got up and headed to John Frobisher's office. She knocked politely before showing the man in. Lois realised he must've been important for Mr Frobisher to see him. It wasn't a second after her last call that the phone rang again.

"I need to speak with Mr Frobisher." said the voice on the other line, an American, from his accent.

"I'm sorry I…" Lois began only to be cut off.

"Just tell him it's Captain Jack Harkness, he'll take the call." the voice demanded.

"I'm sorry, I can't. If you could just leave a number or.." said Lois, only to be cut off again.

"Tell him it's Torchwood."

"Right, and how do you spell that?" Lois asked. There was a pause on the other side of the line before the man; Captain Jack, continued.

"You're working for the Home Office and you've never heard of Torchwood?" the voice sounded both shocked and annoyed.

"I'm new. Started today." she tried to explain.

"Just what I need." the voice sounded very fed up, understandable given the current situation, so Lois was surprised by what he said next. "Sorry. Not your fault. You picked a hell of a day. Listen, just tell him Torchwood. W O O D." he spelled out the name and Lois was quick to write it down. "We might be able to help, okay? What was your name?"

"Lois. Lois Habiba." she answered.

"Good luck to you, Lois Habiba." and then the line went dead.

* * *

_Wembley Park – London_

The children were starting to gather around the Doctor and Martha; completely unaware of the mini-heart attacks they had just caused the adults in the area. From the children's perspective the Doctor and Martha had appeared out of nowhere, and they were curious as to how that'd happened.

"Who are you?" asked one on the children.

"I'm Martha and this is the Doctor. We're here to help your teachers with something." Martha replied professionally, having already released the teacher she was comforting.

Another teacher from the playground bounded towards them, worry etched in his features.

"Right we need to speak with these guys here so go play, yeah?" he called to the children. The children did nothing. "Now." he ordered and the children sighed and spread away from the adults, returning to their respective friend groups.

"What the fuck was that?" he muttered to the Doctor and Martha.

"We'll find out." assured the Doctor.

"Yeah okay." said the new teacher as he rolled his eyes.

"I will." said the Doctor seriously. "But, for now you need to get these children inside."

The look of concern due to the Doctor's comment was obvious amongst the other adults.

"If they freeze like that again and fall, it could do some serious damage. You need to get them inside where they can't run about." the Doctor explained.

The new teacher nodded and turned back. Martha watched as he approached the other adults on the playground and relayed the information. Meanwhile, the remaining female teacher, who first greeted then, and the Doctor were talking.

"Wait, didn't you say this happened this morning?" the Doctor asked.

"Yes, but the talking's new." she paused, thinking whether to add something but decided against it.

"Okay, think, think, think." chanted the Doctor as he turned away from the two women and started pacing, hitting his head repeatedly. "What's so special about this school?" A thought suddenly hit him. "Don't have any aliens enrolled do you?"

"It wasn't just this school." the teacher stammered out.

The Doctor's eyes widened. "What!"

"I was texting my girlfriend and she said the exact same thing happened at her school and she's in France at the moment." the teacher explained meekly.

"So it's worldwide then?" asked Martha.

The teacher shook her head. "Maybe… I've… I've been hearing from other uni mates, they all say the same thing.."

Then the whistle blew and the children started to line up to go back to the classrooms.

"I have to go." said the teacher, looking nervously at a line of students without a teacher in front of them. "Oh, and please sign in at reception… sorry. and er thanks." she finished, as she rushed off to her class.

Martha could hear some of her students complaining that break time had finished early before she turned back to the Doctor.

"So, I take it we're cancelling that trip to the moon of Taveir, then?" asked Martha jokingly.

"Oh yes." said the Doctor but it was humourless and he kept his eyes fixed on the teacher and her pupils.

"So, where to now?" asked Martha more seriously.

"Back to the TARDIS." stated the Doctor. "We've got work to do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Theories and Facts
> 
> When: Errr ...well, I've almost finished the whole story but there's this one chapter I've been putting off doing. So whenever I decide to do that


	4. Day One: Chapter Three - Theories and Facts

**Torchwood: Children of Earth**

**Day One: Chapter Three**

**Theories and Facts.**

* * *

_The TARDIS – Wembley Park_

The Doctor was in the console room of the Tardis, looking at the monitor. Displayed on it was a grainy amateur video of a group of children screaming in unison. He was still deep in thought when Martha entered.

"Any luck with that sync thing, then?" she asked hopefully, walking up to him.

"No." he said, rubbing his eyes from the strain of the screen. "All the audio samples from the have been recorded on devices that don't have the range to pick up what I'm looking for." the Doctor complained, before adding, "It's like trying to guess the colours using a black and white photocopy, and a bad photo copy at that." for Martha's sake, to consumed with the content of the screen to greet her.

Martha knew she just needed to ask the right question. Say the right thing to get his brain into gear. "Well you were there, you heard it, what did it sound like to you?"

Her attempt looked to be somewhat successful as the Doctor started staring off into space, the cogs turning in his mind.

"It sounded like.." the Doctor trailed off, replaying the memory in his mind. He focused on the scream the children made before they started talking. He knew it was important as he tried to filter out the children's voices so just the frequency remained. If he could figure out the frequency, or at least the general frequency range, he could at least run a search for the source and narrow down the general location of whoever was broadcasting through the children.

He almost had it. Surprisingly, the frequency sounded analogue in origin, but it wasn't a radio or TV transmission.

He just needed to focus a little harder.

Almost.

"AH!" the Doctor yelled as he fell back on the captain's chair in frustration. He'd lost it, any longer and he'd give himself a neuro implosion.

"Anything?" Martha asked.

"Only that it's an analogue signal of some kind" the Doctor replied, pinching the bridge of his nose with his eyes clasped shut.

"Well at least that's something." Martha said, but it bought little comfort to the Doctor as he rested his legs on the Tardis console from the captain's chair, still pinching the bridge of his nose, like he was trying to sooth a headache.

There was a bout of silence as Martha searched her brain for something else to say to ease the Doctor out of his current rut. She looked back to the monitor, which was still playing a collection of videos of children across the world. There had to be some other way to get to the information the Doctor needed.

"What about how they are speaking through the children, any luck on that?" asked Martha.

The Doctor stopped trying to smooth the headache he had given himself and started to explain in his usual technobabble that might as well be a different language. "A Basic exploitation of a dormant psychic link, synchronised with a specific wavelength, targeting those in a specific stages of cognitive development. So basic it could be any number of species in this system."

Martha knew what those words meant on their own but in the order of the sentence the Doctor just told her she had no idea. So she decided to go for the 'pick one word she knew and hope that would help somehow' technique. Of which, had actually been quite successful on numerous other occasions.

"Okay you said transmission, so there must be some way of working out where they're transmitting from?"

"Yes, if I can analyse the raw transmission signal from when the children were first synced with the signal, but we've already established that we have no way to analyse it with such primitive Earth audio recording technology." he rambled before adding. "Keep up Martha." flatly.

"Sorry." she added sarcastically as she rolled her eyes. The Doctor ignored her. And silence fell in the console room once more.

"But can't you scan the atmosphere for alien spaceships or something?"

"Tried that."

"Okay, so, how did they get the children to sync with some signal in the first place, then?"

"By feeding a raw connection through a neuro-translator transistor, and then converting the information into a broadcast-able frequency." the Doctor rattled off like it was obvious.

"But what does that mean?"

The Doctor was getting frustrated. "It means they …"

Then suddenly he stopped. His face turned serious as he pushed himself up from the captain's chair and dropped his feet back to the floor.

"Doctor?" Martha tried but he gave her no response. He looked like he had seen a ghost, so she tried again. "Doctor what is it? What's wrong?" She moved closer to him.

"They're using a child." he answered in such a serious tone Martha knew that it must be something despicable.

"What do y' mean?" asked Martha, her voice trembled slightly as she wavered whether she really wanted to know.

"They've taken a child, and they're using them to broadcast the signal." said the Doctor darkly, his expression still fixed ahead. At the moment, she realised, she really didn't want to know unless she absolutely had to.

"But if there using a child doesn't that mean they've been here before, there might be some record of them, missing persons or sightings, or something? " she said, in a further attempt to shift his focus.

This seemed to work as the Doctor physically shook himself out of it and turned his head to greet Martha with a bright smile. "Oh Martha Jones, you're a star."

Martha smiled back, happy for the praise while the Doctor started dancing around the console, repeatedly shifting his attention from the monitor to the console, energetically flicking switches and turning dials.

For a few seconds he actually looked to be making progress but then…

"Ah" said the Doctor, stopping at the monitor, suddenly devoid of his earlier enthusiasm.

"What is it?" asked Martha, moving to join him. But all she could see were the circular symbols plastered on the screen.

"There are 4671 missing children that fit the criteria for alien abduction."

"That many?" Martha said sadly, looking at the screen over his shoulder. "Their parents must be worried sick."

"Yeah." said the Doctor copying her tone, keeping his eyes fixed on the monitor.

After a few seconds he switched to his normal tone. "The problem is without more information to narrow down the search that number is staying as is."

"So, what are we going to do now?" Martha queried, looking up at the Doctor. "We'd need an army to sort thought that ourselves."

The Doctor thought for a moment.

"Yeah. I guess we would."

* * *

_Thames House – Basement_

John Frobisher was walking briskly behind the enigma that was Mr Dekker, as he was led down walk way after walkway.

"Been a while since we had visitors down here. Thought you'd forgotten about us. It's hardly the glamorous side of Thames House, my little domain." said Dekker with a little smile.

John could only nod. He'd only been two years in the Home Office but every single person had warned him about Dekker. And at times like this it was easy to see why. The old man had a cold smugness to him that gave him the creeps.

Mr Dekker opened a door to a small office filled with shelving and every one of them full with old files and retro looking technology. He led John to the corner of the office where there was a strange, old fashion looking terminal - like the inside of air ground control - with radar readouts and flashing lights.

"We converted the readings onto digital years ago, but I kept the original equipment." said Mr Dekker, patting a machine that looked like an old radio mixed with a radar system. "Call it nostalgia. Then this morning it woke up. Eight forty, and again at ten thirty, transmitting on the 456." he continued. John just looked on in disbelief at the man's casual approach to the whole thing. Dekker really did make him uncomfortable.

"Just five seconds in duration, but that's enough." Dekker went on, putting on his glasses as he looked closely at the readout on the strange device.

"What's it saying?" asked John, so sure that Mr Dekker could read it.

"Well, I think it's a burst of compressed information. I'm running it through the translators. It might take a while. But the point is, the 456 was open." Mr Dekker explained, looking knowingly at John.

"But why would they change?"

Mr Dekker chuckled. "That's your job to find out."

"I'll have to tell the Prime Minister."

"Elected officials?. They just come and go. The 456 was here before him, it'll be here long after he's gone. And so will we. The Civil Service, John. The cockroaches of government." Mr Dekker said with a grin in John's direction.

"Have you got kids?" asked John, wanting him to at least acknowledge the severity of the situation.

"Too busy working." he said almost sadly. John almost felt a shred of pity for the man. For a second it seemed it was something Dekker had regretted.

But then Dekker turned to him with a final smug grin. "Turns out to be a godsend."

* * *

_The Hub – Cardiff_

Jack was flicking through his contacts, thinking of who else he could call for information. All this stuff with kids was making him think about the children, well child, he knew in his own life and how worried his mother would be.

He looked out the office at his team working away. Maybe he should call her? Tell her people were working on it. But then, would she even want to hear it?

Owen barged into Jack's office, cutting him out of his thoughts.

"I think I've got something."

Jack followed Owen, rushing out of his office towards the mortuary with the rest of the team.

"Right, so most of the scans we got from the kids told us fuck all." stated Owen flatly, as the team gathered around the upper platform of the mortuary, leaning on the metal railings while they looked down at Owen standing by the autopsy table below.

"But that neuro scan that we salvaged from that sea wreck last year found something interesting." he continued as he brought up an image on the projector behind him, using a bulky tablet like device.

The image was of two brain scans, shown side by side, but the image looped - like a GIF file. The team examined it as Owen continued. "Both of the kids that it scanned had the exact same readings." He switched to a more serious tone before continuing. "Which should be impossible."

The team all glanced at each other with confused expressions.

"Even if we scanned a set of twins doing the exact same task, at the exact same time, the results should be different; different thought's different neuro pathways, different chemicals released" Owen explained, like he was teaching a class. "But they aren't here."

"Which means what?" asked Gwen, squinting her eyes at the projection, trying to make sense of it.

"It means whatever is making the kids stop is overriding their brains somehow - making them think the exact same thing, at the exact same time." Owen continued, glancing upwards at the team's reactions.

"So it's a transmission, a pulse, a broadcast, sending every child the exact same instructions." said Jack, moving his hand in a circling motion as he thought out loud.

Owen nodded "Most likely."

"So where they broadcasting from? Space?" Mickey asked.

Owen opened his mouth to reply but Rose beat him to it. "Can't be, Sarah-Jane said there's been no spaceships anywhere near Earth in the last six months."

"And why isn't it effecting us?" Gwen asked, steering the conversation.

There was a slight pause as the team pondered the question, but Ianto was the first to share. "Maybe testosterone interferes with the signal, and oestrogen…" he started only to be interrupted by Gwen.

"If that were true babies would be affected too but, according to the latest police reports the youngest child affected was 3 years and 2 months old."

"I mean, it makes sense" Tosh stated with a shrug. "Babies are unable to communicate effectively. Why send a message to someone who won't be able to relay it?"

Gwen thought for a moment, focusing on Tosh's point. "Then, could be targeting children depending on their stage of brain development? Like how you skull fuses as you get older?"

Owen agreed. "It's possible. It would explain why such a range of kids are affected, we all develop at different rates."

"Okay, so…" asked Mickey, looking for confirmation. "Whoever's doing this is broadcasting a signal that only affects kids' brains?"

"Well it certainly seems plausible." said Tosh but her voice was unsure.

"Like the Mosquito alarm, the one that only kids can hear." agreed Ianto.

The team glanced at each other, wordlessly confirming that this theory seemed most likely given the current evidence. They then all instinctively turned to Jack, waiting for him to tell them what to do next.

Jack was deep in thought, unaware of the others. His arms were folded and he was staring at the scans on the two brains in front of him, his hand on his chin. He had an idea and he knew it would progress the investigation but it wasn't exactly the most moral approach.

"We need a child." he stated. "Because we need to test those frequencies. Find the right frequency, and we can find out who's transmitting."

"Where do you get a child, though? We can find lasers and Weevils and hitchhikers. But kids?" said Ianto causally, having no problem with the plan. To him it made perfect sense and it would get results. Jack thought as much; Ianto's old Torchwood One mentality still revealed itself now and again.

But as Jack looked towards him as he spoke he saw, as predicted, that Rose and Gwen were not on board with the plan, quite against it in fact, and they were glaring daggers at him.

Owen cut in to the silent argument between the three of them. "I'm pretty sure Dr Rupesh from the hospital will give us access to the children's ward since he's so determined to be part of the gang."

"So what? we're just gunna take someone's kid, is that it?" Rose yelled, astounded.

"No were not, are we Jack?" Gwen agreed angrily.

Jack said nothing but Owen was quick to snap back, "Get off your high horse Tyler, if we don't do this now then we won't have any idea how to stop it when the shit hits the fan."

Jack tried lessening the tension; he didn't like the plan either. There were a lot of unknown variables and they were acting on a theory not solid facts. But the sheer scale of the incident was proof that they needed to act quickly. "Rose, We don't have a choice we need to find out who's doing this" he said as softly and calmly as possible, trying his best to get her to understand.

"Nah, that aint going to happen." said Rose with absolute conviction.

The rest of the team looked on at the exchange with bated breath. Ever since Rose had joined the team wondered sometimes– Owen rather bluntly – who really was the leader of the operation. Jack gave the orders but if Rose disagreed then he usually gave in straight away. Or, on the rare occasion he didn't, Jack would just look at Rose and say 'Rose, trust me' and everything would be fine. Every, single, time.

What was it going to be today?

"Rose." Jack called in a sterner tone.

Rose was having none of it.

"Don't _Rose_ me." she snapped. "If we test this broadcast thing on a kid how d' we know it aint going to kill them … or tell whoeva's behind this that we're here or … or …"

Rose fumbled her words as her volume grew. She knew testing it on a child was wrong, and if she had been given more time to think about it she would have been able to give a more coherent argument. But at the moment she was just angry and needed to get her point across quickly. " I don't know make all the other kids heads' explode or somemin." she finished waving her hands about in frustration.

Once Rose was finished the whole team moved their heads slowly from Rose to Jack and waited in anticipation for what he might say.

"Okay." Jack said with a hint of anger in his voice, crossing his arms. "Then how do you propose we find out who's behind this?"

"I… We.. .I mean we could…" Rose stuttered, her confidence gone. She hadn't gotten that far yet.

"Basically you have no idea." Owen was quick to butt in, causing the rest of the team to jerk their heads in his direction, unsure whether to think he was brave or stupid for involving himself.

Though, personally, Tosh thought Owen and Ianto were just trying not to lose the bet the three of them had going between them whether it'd be Jack or Rose who folded first.

But, in Owen's mind he spoke simply because Jack's plan was the most obvious and effective, and they were wasting precious time bickering about ethics. And if he didn't air his opinion now then it was only a matter of time before Jack gave it which could potentially putt a lot of lives in danger.

Unfortunately for him, Rose was just as quick to snap back. "Just shut up and let me think for a second, yeah?"

Rose was very aware of all the eyes that were currently on her at this moment in time. It was almost as bad as that time with the Sycorax, well far from almost. But she still cringed looking back at how 'well' that went.

While, it was true she had grown more confident in her knowledge about aliens while she was with the Doctor. Starting work at the Torchwood, on Pete's world, was a harsh wake up call to how little she really did know. She was on her own. If anything it made her realise just how brilliant the Doctor was at fixing problems without resorting to violence after every little hiccup. She'd tried her best not to cave into that way of thinking. Tried to fight how the Doctor would want her to fight, tried to change the corporation. But she'd made a lot of mistakes, fighting like that. People had gotten hurt or she had needed others to swoop in and save her. And they were very slow to forget when things like that happened.

That had really shattered her confidence in her alien fighting ability.

But now she was working for Jack's Torchwood and they were a little different.

She just didn't like being put on the spot.

"Well.." she began; fiddling with her sleeve nervously. "They know about Earth." she continued, only to instantly regret how she phrased it – of course they know about Earth, they were here weren't they?

The others glanced at each other, feeling sorry for her being put on the spot and failing so horribly.

Owen rolled his eyes again - the prat.

Just calm down and think things through, she told herself.

"They know about Earth." she repeated before taking a calming breath inward. "So maybe they've bin here before, or maybe they're already here, like the Sylaveen were." she continued meekly, only to grow more confident as she saw the other's faces change from pity to 'she might be on to something here' expressions.

Mickey gave proud smirk. He knew she was on to something.

Rose continued. "I mean they know how to speak English. They know we'd be awake to see the kids stop. They know that targeting kids will make people scared. And there haven't been any ships in the last six months. So think about it, it makes sense that they've bin here the whole time."

"Okay, that's a good theory." said Jack with a proud grin to rival Mickey's. "But, we need facts." He looked around to the rest of the team. "Anyone want to share? Now's the time."

"I ran a check for any unusual transmissions or any suspicious communication projects in the last year. In case it was the same thing that Rose saw before." Tosh chimed in hesitantly after she had glanced around and saw that no one was going to speak. "But, apart from your usual government surveillance projects, nothing. If they are here then they aren't transmitting from Earth."

Rose slumped her shoulders but Mickey was quick to suggest. "They could have some sort of clocking device."

"Or a long range teleport" said Ianto.

"Maybe we should be focusing on what they're doing and not how they're doing it." Gwen said quietly, thinking out loud more than anything. "Tosh can you run a search for any reports of children stopping before this happened?"

"Give me a sec." said Tosh as she climbed down the steep, tiled stairs of the mortuary towards Owen's terminal – because it was the closest - and started typing away.

The images of the children's brain scans were replaced by a loading bar with flashes of word documents and newspaper reports appearing behind it. But when it had finished searching it showed no results and Tosh shook her head sadly.

"What about adults?" Rose asked and the other's turned to look at her. "If they were planning something they would've used adults to help em'and not kids." she clarified.

Tosh nodded and redid the search.

This time the results yielded two results.

"Well would you look at that." enthused Jack, winking at Rose with a playful smile. "What do we have here?" he asked.

Tosh explained as she brought the video up on the projection and played it. "First result CCTV, from the police database, a Mr Liam Kane, filed as evidence for an unexplained death, but then written off as natural causes."

The rest of the team looked intently at the projection. The video was grainy and difficult to make out. The camera overlooked rows of shelving, filled with stock, like a big industrial warehouse. Down the central aisles was a man in a suit and high-viz vest. He taking his time, peering down the aisles and writing notes on a clipboard he was carrying. He had just started turning into an aisle to the side when he suddenly stopped and his clipboard fell to the floor.

"He's frozen." said Ianto, raising his eyebrows.

"Like the children." Gwen agreed.

"Look his mouth is open, five quid it's the same noise the kids were making." Mickey said, pointing at the screen.

Then, suddenly the man on the video started violently convulsing and fell to the floor in a heap.

He was dead.

"What the hell?" exclaimed Mickey, his stunned expression matching the rest of the team.

"His records say he died of a brain bleed but…" said Tosh shaking her head at the terminal.

"That's bullshit." Owen finished.

"They killed him. Why'd they do that?" asked Rose.

"Because they've got what they wanted." Jack said solemnly.

"Or he knows something we don't." Ianto added.

"Or they could be testing the frequency on adults." Tosh added, but the team looked at her questionably. "And it misfired... obviously."

"But what's so special about him, what does he do?" Gwen asked no one in particular, as the footage repeated.

"He's a quantity surveyor in South London. I'm checking his records and so far I can't find any red flags." said Tosh, looking up from the terminal.

"He's got to have friends or family or someone that could tell us something." said Mickey.

"He's body should be able to tell us more. Because that…" said Owen, pointing to the projection. "Is obviously not a brain bleed."

"Noted, what about the other result?" Jack asked, nodding towards the screen.

"Hold on." said Tosh as she brought up another video. "Amateur footage, sent in by a Dr Belle, psychologist, to the police this morning." Tosh stated as the footage played.

This time the footage was a pixelated phone video, it looked to be of an old man in his 50s or 60s. He looked a bit unkempt, but the grounds he was in looked very grand. He had the same glossed over stare that the children had, and he was chanting the same thing. We are coming. Over and over again.

"What the hell? Who's he?" Jack gasped, echoing the team's thoughts.

"Hang on" said Mickey as he disappeared from the mortuary, ran to his terminal and began typing away. "Timothy Mcarthy, lives in East Grimsby with his sister, no hold on, adopted sister. He's a patient of Dr Belle's, she runs a private psychiatric hospital. She must keep paper records because I can't access any of his info." He called over to the rest of the team.

Jack was deep in thought. "Right, Tosh that death in London, do we know where the body is?"

"Yeah. It's been held at a hospital in..." She looked read the information from the screen. "South - East London, St Alfege's Hospital."

"Right, Tosh stay here, coordinate the search and see if you can find anything else on this guy and the surveyor in London." Jack ordered, looking at Tosh.

"Right."

"Owen, Mickey head to London, Owen head to the hospital. Mickey, ask around, visit his workplace see if there's anything going on there." he continued, making sure to talk loud enough for Mickey to hear.

"You got it boss." Mickey called back and Owen nodded.

"Gwen, you've had training, go and interview the family and this doctor Belle. See what you can find out."

"I'm on it."

"Rose, get on to Sarah – Jane again, feed Mr Smith all the information we've got. Maybe he can tell us more about broadcasts in the atmosphere at the time of the vic's death, about this guy Timothy, the scans, anything."

Rose gave a mock salute.

"Ianto, hold down the fort here, we might still have rift activity."

"Sir." replied Ianto, inwardly giddy that he had been given something semi-important to do, and, more so, that Jack thought he could handle it.

Jack clapped his hands together. "Okay let's move out."

At that everyone rushed to their respective stations, like fire-fighters preparing for a call.

* * *

_The Home Office – London_

John Frobisher had just made it back to his office; his mind was busy going through what he was going to say to the Prime Mister about the 456. He had no good news so he was nervous to say the least.

The absolute last thing he wanted was Colonel Oduya waiting to greet him. He was flicking though a rather thick, rather old, leather bound file. Extremely thick in fact, that was never a good sign. He stood to attention when he saw John enter the room.

Bridget was quick to scuttle over to him "Colonel Oduya for you, sir. Unscheduled. Again. I'd remind you, you've got the meeting with the Prime Minister in twenty minutes."

"This way." said John as he, for the second time that day, ushered the Colonel through to his office.

"What is it?" John asked tiredly, as he gestured at Oduya to take the seat. He was in no mood for more bad news. Really he just wanted to get home and check up on his own family.

"Perhaps, some progress, Sir." the Colonel continued.

Oduya was usually very professional and impossible to read. But John was sure he was far chirpier than usual. He wasn't smiling or anything so out of character but there was just something different.

"And?" John asked, sitting down in his office chair, a faint surge or hope beginning to surface.

The Colonel waited for John to settle before continuing. "It appears that whatever is controlling the children is some sort of frequency, manipulating the children's brain activity. And while we are still trying to find out exactly how those responsible are doing it, as far as we know, this, in theory, gives them the ability to kill every child's brain on the planet."

John's mind instantly flashed to memories of his own family. "Kill?... And that's what UNIT calls progress these days?" he said, unable to stop anger seeping into his voice.

"UNIT views any information as progress at this stage. This is all providing those responsible have enough power to increase the signal." The Colonel paused. "But we've been told it's unlikely."

John mind was still racing with thoughts of his children. The Colonel was saying this so bluntly. He had children of his own. Didn't it bother him in the slightest?

"There's more," said the Colonel slowly. John shot him a look or pure terror. "In order to control the children, we believe whoever is responsible has not only visited the Earth before but has taken a child, possibly more"

John internally screamed, as he tried desperately not to show any outwards emotion. The worry about his children partly replaced with fear of what exactly UNIT knew. He rested his chin on his hands in an attempt to play it off while he thought.

Did they know about the past dealings with the 456?

How?

Who had told them?

Was it Dekker? Had he finally cracked and turned traitor?

"H- How can you be sure?" John asked hesitantly.

The Colonel sat back on his chair, completely relaxed, which infuriated and scared John at the same time. Was he acting like this because he knew the links between the illegal deal and the UK government or was he not taking this threat seriously since his sudden attitude adjustment he seemed to be currently ailed with?

"We have an expert who has experience with this sort of technology." said the Colonel.

John raised his eyebrows, completely throw by the answer. "A- An expert?"

His mind searched for possibilities. Was it Decker? Did he tell them? No, Decker had far too much blood on his hands to ever go to UNIT. Did they have some sort of computer whiz that picked up the 456 transmission somehow?

The Colonel was still sitting there, not giving an answer, just looking knowingly at John.

Did Oduya want him to incriminate himself is that it? Well he wasn't going to.

"And who might that be?" John asked calmly.

But the Colonel stayed relaxed on his chair, only raising his eyebrows at John's question. His normally unreadable face sprouting the tiniest trace of a grin from the corner of his mouth.

John faked a confused expression as best he could but inside he was terrified. Oduya was acting so smug – well smug for him. John was sure he knew.

No, John thought, mentally snapping himself out of it. Oduya was by the book, if he knew he would have dragged John out by his ankles, straight to the UN council to be charged with withholding crucial information. Oduya didn't say the experts name, so John theorised he was expected to know it. But who? Who would be able to deduce such information without any prior knowledge of the 456? Who was so well known that even someone outside UNIT would know who they were? And who's ability would such a high ranking UNIT officer feel so confide-

_Oh no._

_Not him, anyone but **him.**_

"You don't mean!" John said, exasperated.

The Colonel nodded, only slightly, unable to hide the small smug grin from growing, ever so slightly.

"Jesus Christ! …. And you're sure, it's not, I mean."

"Appeared right in front of me, Sir."

His career was over. Down the toilet. In the shitter. Good-night Vienna.

"Ri… Right, I see."

John forced himself to relax. "Then if you have him on your side then what do you need from me?" he asked wearily; if he knew what the Doctor needed then maybe he could slow him down. Not in stopping the 456 but in linking the government to them. Because if the Doctor found out about the government's dealings, especially as it involved children; that was it. Just look at what he did to Harriet Jones.

The Colonel returned to his stony expression. "UNIT has access to the national database of missing persons and so far we've found nothing. This has led us to believe that the abduction may have been moved to the government's secure network. If that's the case we would need your permission to access the secure files." The Colonel paused before smugly adding. "Of course, this is only a formality given UNIT's current state of affairs."

Translation; the Doctor's working with us at the moment so UNIT will do whatever the hell it wants.

_Christ._

A thought hit John. "Just the national database? So he thinks they've taken a child from Britain?"

Oduya nodded. "We've been told that for the message to be broadcast in English, English must be the child's native language. That and given the timings of the other incidents all coincide with British hours. We think it's safe to assume that the child was taken from Britain as well. Of course UNIT has been searching the missing person's databases in other countries just to be sure, but for now, the priority is Britain."

"Yes of course. " said John as he got up from his chair, and opened the door for the Colonel, making it very clear that he wanted him to leave. "Now if you'll excuse me I have a Prime Mister to brief.

"Thank you sir. UNIT will keep the government in the loop if we find anything" said Oduya, as he left the room.

John watched the Colonel like a hawk as he left his department. John felt himself losing his inner battle with his emotions. He could only hold his composure for a few seconds, as he fumbled around with the blinds to his office, trying to close out the world but his hands were trembling uncontrollably.

He wanted to scream, he wanted to absolutely destroy anything in his path. To run away from the responsibility that had been forced upon him. But more than anything he wanted to sprint down to his daughters' school and hug them as tight as he could.

But he couldn't so, he settled for zoning out instead; collapsing into his office chair.

He not only had to deal with keeping the deal with the 456 secret from the other countries, which was at least doable. Now, he had to keep it a secret from the Doctor, _the_ Doctor. And yet, at the same time, somehow, allow him to stop the threat.

Think John, think.

The Doctor never stuck around for paper work and, _thank heavens_ , he had just deleted all paper and digital records of the incident so UNIT would find nothing.

...Unless the survivors told them.

But they were too old to remember their name these days let alone a top secret mission. They wouldn't kick up a fuss now. He should be safe.

John abruptly bolted upright on his chair as he remembered; Captain Jack Harkness.

The man who didn't age.

If Jack figured it out and told UNIT then it'd all be over. For all John knew, Jack might have already told the rest of Torchwood. And if UNIT found out while the Doctor was with them then he might as well pack his kids bags and move into a caravan while he had a chance.

No, the only way to save himself and his family from living on some God awful council estate, on the dole for the rest of his life, would be to kill Torchwood.

And even if it was public – given Harkness's regenerative abilities – the Doctor famously hated Torchwood so, it's not like he would care enough to look into it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Friends and Family 
> 
> When: Well I've actually almost finished the whole thing so ... a few days, eh, hopefully. (Yeah 27 chapters 0_o there was a lot to fit in!) 
> 
> Other notes (these aren't really important but you can read if you're interested) :   
> From here things will start to change more and more from the original, although I've really tried to make all the changes in keeping with canon and still vaguely following the plot, albeit taking a round-about way to get there. The changes I've made are based on what Clem says; 'I've been smelling them for months.'   
> If that's the case then what have the 456 been doing this whole time? This is my take on it, I hope it makes sense. 
> 
> Also with how I've written Rose, my view point is if series three is where the Doctor is adjusting to life without Rose and still coming to terms with losing her (compared to series four where he's accepted it). So that's what I've decided Rose was doing in the parallel world before she got all kick ass and I've (tried) to write her in a way that portrays that. 
> 
> Secondly, I don't really have a beta so please comment if you see any mistakes or it doesn't make sense or anything like that. Or if you just want to comment in general that's fine too :)
> 
> So sorry for the really long notes, I'll stop writing now.


	5. Day One, Chapter Four - Friends and Family

* * *

_Torchwood Hub – Cardiff_

Rose was utterly and completely bored. She sat on the floor next to the sofa, trying to flick pieces of screwed up paper in a cup with a pen. Tosh was busy typing away trying to figure out something she didn't even want to try and understand and Ianto had taken her latest gossip mag and retreated upstairs. Jack was in his office, but his door was shut so she assumed he was calling his contacts; to see if he could find out any more information.

Reaching out to Sarah – Jane had taken the grand total of ten minutes, and the information she'd given her hadn't told them anything new. Rose was just starting to wonder why Jack hadn't sent her up to London with Mickey and Owen; where she could've been more useful, when Jack's office door opened and he strolled out. Rose perked up at the possibility there was a new lead.

"See ya" he announced. And Rose instantly slumped back to her bored slouch. Jack only said that when he was meeting a contact and he _always_ went alone. But then, as he grabbed his coat and was about to head out the door, he stopped. He seemed unsure for a second, before spinning round and saying "Rose, with me."

"What y' want me to go with you?" she asked, surprise clear on her face, as she sat up in anticipation once again.

"If you think you can handle it?" he smirked as he put on his coat.

"Do you even have to ask" she said playfully, getting up from the floor and moving to join him. But then she stopped in her tracks as her face fell; a thought crossing her mind "Wait this isn't a …y' know… a _dance class_ , is it?"

Jack chuckled a little at her question "Unfortunately, no."

"Well in that case, lead the way Captain Harkness" she said with a cheeky smile, skipping across the room to meet him and hooking her arm with his.

"Yes Mam" he replied with a mock salute as they merrily walked towards the car garage.

Tosh momentarily poked her head around her terminal but was quick to dismiss the exchange between the two as their usual antics and quickly got back to work.

Ianto, on the other hand, was watching from the security cameras as Jack and Rose climbed into the convertible. He couldn't help but feel a little jealous that Jack had decided to take her to meet one of his super-secret contacts and not him. He looked at the feed from the hub that showed Tosh still working away. He knew she probably would be for a few more hours. Sometimes it was like they forgot he existed. Sod it, he thought, as he locked the door to the Tourist Centre and walked to the nearest bus stop.

He had people of his own to see.

* * *

_The Home Office – the Prime Minister's Office_.

Brian Green; the acting Prime Minister, flicked carefully through the documents that Frobisher had given him. Yet another alien threat that he'd have to deal with. John Frobisher was sitting in the chair across from him, trying to make himself take up as little space as possible. But, Green had read enough and pushed the papers away in frustration.

"When I was a kid, it was the bomb. Iron Curtain. Reds under the bed. It was all so bloody simple. Now it comes raining down from the skies, made of metal, stinking green and God knows what. I find myself running a country under siege from above." Green explained, in a steely and calculating tone.

"What do you recommend that we do?" Frobisher asked.

But Green was quick to cut across him. "You tell me."

"Given that this is now worldwide, Prime Minister, it might be best if certain historical events were taken off the record." Frobisher explained, meekly. He didn't want to do anything to warrant the Prime Minster chucking him to the dogs, especially as he still needed to tell him the worst news.

"So Britain gets a clean sheet?"

"Yes, sir."

"How do we know if these," Green paused for a moment, while he flicked through the papers again. "What do we call them?"

"The 456." Frobisher answered, like an eager child in a classroom. "They never gave a name. We just called them the 456 after the frequency allocation."

"Then how do we know that the 456 will keep quiet?"

"We don't." said Frobisher, his meek voice returning. "All we can do is hope to cover ourselves." There was a short pause, his voice was almost trembling. "And based on new information I have just received I recommend this be our top priority"

"And why's that John?" the Prime Minster asked, patronisingly.

"Colonel Oduya of UNIT has just informed me that they're operating under a code Blue…. sir."

"Dear God! That's all I need." said the Prime Minister, his cold tone showing emotion for the first time.

John continued, knowing the Prime Minister would want further information. And because he wanted to get this piece of news out of the way as quickly as possible "At the moment the Doct -"

Green glared as him.

John coughed nervously to hide his slip up. " - UNIT - is operating under the assumption that a child may have been abducted and are requesting access to all open cases as well as the classified archives."

The Prime Minister got out of his seat and stood up in such a haste that it looked as if he was about to lean over his desk and strike John. John dramatically flinched but Green didn't actually hit him.

"So he already knows we're hiding something!" Green hissed.

"I don't think so, Sir." said John, his eyes following the Prime Minister who stood upright, towering over John, who feel like a dog being scolded.

" At least not yet. Their main priority, for the moment, is finding out who's doing this to the children, given the threat the 456 pose to them." John continued, the Prime Minister's eyes looked glossed over as he started to walk toward a window at the back of the office and look out to the streets below

Green did not move from his position by the window for a very long time, which made John feel very uneasy. "Open your eyes John." he said harshly, still looking out the window of his office. "Once he has the 456 in his sights, they'll tell him anything he wants to know. And you know as well as I do; that he'll ask about the children."

Green paused, continuing to look carefully at the bustling London street, full of tourists and office workers. "And then he'll come for us." he said solemnly.

John risked looking up at Green's face rather than his shoes. Us? He was sure Green was going to offer him up as a sacrificial pawn. But he seemed to be with him, at least for now. "Yes, sir. Quite right."

The Prime Minister showed no indication that he had heard John as he stared onwards for some time. John dared not say anything.

"I'm sure you've heard the rumours surrounding Harriet Jones." said Green.

Green started to walk slowly back to his desk. "The founder of Britain's golden age," he announced in feign proudness as he sat back in his chair. He scoffed. "Now no one even remembers her name." he said as he swivelled on the chair slightly, still deep in thought. "And for what? For doing what any of us would've done. I dread to think what he'd do to the government of this country if he were to find out we handed the helpless little orphans willingly."

"That is my concern as well, Sir."

Green leaned forward on his desk chair and placed his reading glasses on the top of his nose. "We'll have to issue a blank page, no loose ends." he stated coldly.

"I agree, Sir"

"And for God's sake" said Green, looking at John, his hard stare worming it's way into John's soul. "Keep my name out of this. You never told me. I was never a part of it. I never knew. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir. Then I take it that that leaves the Blank Page with me?"

"Just don't tell me about it." the Prime Minster announced and continued writing his notes as though nothing had happened.

John took that as his cue to leave.

The Prime Minister was trusting him with this. And if he could just pull this off, the 456 wouldn't end his career, they'd start it.

* * *

_M4 – Canterbury_

Jack was midway through one of his usual impossible stories. Rose was absolutely heaving with laughter, which was making Jack chuckle in return. It was times like this that made Rose so extremely glad she had managed to find him again.

"So there we were, naked," said Jack his voice animated, as he kept one hand on the steering wheel and gestured his free hand about wildly.

He was quickly cut short by Rose, "Why are you always naked!" she yelled over her own laughter.

"No, scratch that," he continued, ignoring Rose's question. "Not naked, because I was still wearing the nipple tassels from the night before."

Rose's face went from laughing hysterically to stunned silence in 0.001 seconds. She blinked at him.

But Jack ignored her silence and continued as though it was nothing out of the ordinary. "So there we were, stranded in the middle of the dessert, this massive slug thing chasing us, running for our lives. And don't think slugs can't be fast when they want to because they can. oh boy they can."

Seconds after Jack restarted his story, the image of Jack seriously running for his life; wearing nothing but nipple tassels – which, Rose imagined, were spinning while he was running – flashed through Rose's mind and caused her to explode into a fit of laughter. The kind of laugh that lasts so long that her voice and breath ran out.

"That doesn't count!" she protested once her voice had returned.

"It does!" Jack countered before continuing with the story.

"So we see a passageway up ahead, and we think; great. Now when I say massive, I mean massive, there's no way this thing can fit. So there we are, we're running and running and we just make it, turn the corner and what do we see."

He paused for effect before continuing. Rose was still giggling but listened intently for what might come next.

"About fifty tourist, standing there staring at us, with camera's, I might add, dressed to the nines" He paused again. "Turns out we'd ran straight through the back entrance to one of the holiest religious temple in the whole of Western Antica"

"No way!" said Rose stifling her laughter.

Jack just gave her a cheeky wink in response.

"Oh my god, I don't believe you." she blurted out.

"It's true!" jeered Jack in feign offence.

Then suddenly, ' _I want to break free'_ by Queen started to play on the radio and they both locked eyes with each other knowingly, thinking instantly of the same memory.

Their minds were suddenly cast back to their time travelling with the Doctor. In particular, the time they had spent three days stuck in an orbiting space jail on some tiny meteorite, years into the future. Jack had taken a liking to one of the prison guards and had started trying to win his affections by singing the song whenever he came on duty. Since there was nothing much to do, Rose, and even the Doctor, had started to join his serenading, and over the course of the three days they had become quite good at it. And ever since then the trio had sung it when they found themselves in similar situations, which was very, very, often.

The prisons, holding cells, containment units, or whatever it the species who owned it called it, were always terrible but it was so fun at the same time. Especially seeing the guards face after they had, eventually, broken out.

Rose waved her hands excitedly "Turn it up!"

"Yes Mam" Jack replied in an even stronger American accent than his natural one as he turned up the volume and started belting out the lyrics.

* * *

_The Hub – Cardiff_

Tosh was working away at her terminal, trying to figure out if there were any similar readings that could be traced between the adult victim and the children; if she could just make some connection that would help. The trouble was that there were so many possibilities it was taking a long time to figure out.

She took off her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose, she had been working on it for hours and her eyes were starting to strain. Not only that she was still monitoring the others. She went to take another sip of coffee only to find it empty, which was strange since Ianto usually kept it topped up and the alarm hadn't gone off.

"Ianto" she called, but no answer.

She logged into the computer and accessed the CCTV of the tourist centre. Nope, he wasn't there either. She did another quick search and saw that he had taken off about two hours ago. She was a bit confused as to why, but the fact that she was alone in the hub caused her to dismiss any suspicious she had, for now.

She looked around the hub and checked the CCTV; to be sure it was true, before she reached into her bag and pulled out a high-tech looking USB drive, although it wasn't quite a USB port at the end. She took out her phone from her bag and plugged it into the USB-ish device. Looking nervously over her shoulder, she downloaded a programme from the computer to her phone and pressed the call button.

Her breath hitched as the phone rang.

" _Yes, this is Noriko Sato_." said the voice on the other line, not in English but in Japanese, a language Tosh had used since birth.

Tosh paused at the relief that her mother had picked up the phone and let out the breath she didn't realise she was holding.

" _Who am I speaking to_?" the voice asked.

"Mother" Tosh finally found the word to reply, her voice breaking.

" _Toshiko! It's been so long since your last call! How are you? Is everything okay_?" her voice fully of happiness and warmth, the sound of her voice causing tears to form in Tosh's eyes.

"Yes, I'm fine mother. I have been working really hard trying to stop what's happening to the children. How is everyone?" she replied, trying to disguise how truly happy the call was making her. It had been ages since she'd had a chance to call her. If Jack knew he would surely fire her and she'd be sent back to UNIT's prison, but she missed her family so much.

Well, now that she thought about it, she didn't think Jack would do that. Not since Rose and Mickey had joined.

" _Everyone is fine, your cousins are fine. Of course we were concerned about them but now I know you are working on it I will tell them not to worry_." Noriko replied, trying herself not to get too emotional but failing as Tosh could hear her soft weeps through the phone. Her belief in her daughter causing a huge smile to spread across her face, as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Thank you for believing in me, mother." Tosh replied meekly, unable to hold back the tears.

" _There, there don't cry_." her mother soothed. " _Tell me all about it_."

Tosh wanted to tell her but the emotion was just overwhelming and she began to sob. Her mother waited patiently on the phone for her to continue, soothing Tosh along the way.

* * *

_Outside the Carter Residents – Canterbury_

"Wot did you say?" Rose asked meekly, after she finally remembered to blink, having spent a very long time staring at Jack; her jaw practically hitting the floor of the car. Rose, at first, had thought it was a joke and started to laugh but then she caught sight of the very serious expression on Jack's face and knew that was far from the case.

" _My daughter and grandson_ , do you want to meet them?" Jack said, his voice was quiet but firm. He shifted his weight to face her from his position in the driver's seat and leaned slightly closer towards her.

"Seriously?" Rose said, still quite not believing what Jack was asking.

Jack replied with a nod , giving her time to process the information he had just dumped on her.

Rose's thoughts were starting to fit together as she shifted her weight so she was now looking towards the house. "Okay" she said but her voice was shaky and she was obviously terrified with the prospect.

"Okay?" Jack asked for confirmation; noticing her obvious nervousness.

But Rose didn't look at him and instead kept her eyes fixated on the house that Jack had pointed out to her earlier. After a few moments had passed she let out a breath, like she had been holding it since the conversation had started. "Yeah, okay." she said and although her voice was still shaky; she gave Jack a smile to let him know she was up for it.

Jack instantly returned her smile three fold; obviously the answer he wanted to hear. "That'a girl Rosie" he said; his voice full of enthusiasm, before he climbed out of the car and started heading towards the house.

Rose, still reeling from the conversation, took a few seconds to realise this was happening _right now_ , before she scrambled out the car and jogged after him. There were so many things she needed to know! So many questions she wanted to ask! The top one being why he had dropped this bomb shell on her now and not while they were in the car. Or before then, even. She had always let Jack know that she wanted to know what he had been up to during his a hundred years or so on Earth, if he wanted to, but talk about throwing her in the deep end.

"Jack wait!" she called to him, once she realised he was dangerously close to the front door. What if they didn't like her? What if she told them something Jack didn't want them to know? Who did they think she was to him? What did they even know about her? Did they know about her?

It took her a while to realise that Jack had stopped and spun round to face her, a slight disappointed look on his face, Rose gathered it was because he thought she had changed her mind.

"Are you sure it's alright?" Rose started, as she closed the distance between them, her words stumbling out of her mouth, as she tried to put her raw thoughts into words. "I mean..."

"Yeah, it's fine." Jack stated.

" But you… we haven't just turned up out of nowhere? And you're just goin' to," she paused to think of the word. "I duuno, spring me on them or somemin?" She paused waiting for a response from Jack but when she got none she added, "Are ya?" Her eyes widening in fear at the prospect.

Jack smiled at her, his eyes boring into hers. "You'll be fine." he said seriously.

It was defiantly not fine, Rose thought. She opened her mouth to tell him as much but her protests were silence when Jack suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders. "Rose I trust you, and _trust_ me; you'll be fine."

Rose was a bit surprised that Jack had grabbed her so suddenly but it had snapped her out of it. She nodded in understanding and after searching her eyes for a moment; Jack let go of her.

As Jack turned to face the house again and after a short walk to the front gate, which he unlatched, he walked up the brief stone path and rang the doorbell. Rose followed shortly behind him, trying to ignore the sinking feeling brewing in her stomach as she fiddled with her sleeves nervously while they waited for the door to open.

* * *

_The M4 Westbound_

Mickey and Owen were deep in a heated debate, they had been for about thirty minutes. Given the current situation one might hope it was about theories concerning the children, but alas; no.

"I'm telling you they should've never let him back." Owen said angrily, he was driving, so he wasn't facing Mickey but he was scowling deeply.

"Oh come on!" Mickey said after tutting heavily and shaking his head in disbelief.

"Face the facts Smith, he's had it." Owen argued.

"I can't believe this."

"Look the only reason they bought him back in the first place is because he went crying to McClaren with his tail between his legs and a fuck load of dosh and the stupid bastard took pity on him and let him play." Owen continued and Mickey smirked at the outrageousness of his statement.

While it was a debate both men enjoyed each other's company. Both were from London - this London not some zeppelin filled London. Both enjoyed football and both led a life involving aliens. Owen in particular was glad that Mickey had joined the team. Before he had arrived, there was no one on the team who seemed to give a monkeys about the footie. And since Mickey and Tyler had joined Jack seemed more up to organising staff get togethers. Which Owen would never admit too, but, he actually found quite fun.

"But you saw how he played, Terry would've never have got that header in if it weren't for Beckham's free kick" Mickey countered.

"Yeah, he's got good aim, I'll give him that." Owen stated, a lot more calmly.

"Exactly, it was nearly two weren't it?"

"True." Owen conceded and Mickey grinned smugly at the victory. "But" Owen added. "McClaren better not put him on for the match against Estonia. He's basically an eighty- two year old in footballer years, put him on again and he'll have coronary heart failure."

"Is that your medical opinion is it?"

"Yes." Owen replied bluntly.

"Fair enough." Mickey shrugged. "But what McClaren really needs to do is get rid of Rooney."

At the mention of Rooney Owen rolled his eyes so much they almost went into his head. "Now don't get me started on Rooney." Owen warned, but it was clear that he had much more to say. "Fucking useless"

It was a good forty-five minutes before the topic of conversation started to slowly shift from football to other things.

"So why do you think Jack didn't send Tyler with us?" Owen asked, knowing Mickey knew more about his mysterious boss that him.

Mickey shrugged "Dunno."

"Come on, you must have some idea."

"Nah" said Mickey shaking his head, "I thought it was weird too, but Captain Cheese likes to keep things to himself."

"Well, isn't that the understatement of the year." Owen said sarcastically. There was a slight hesitant pause on Owens side before he added. "Smith, of all the things to call Jack, why Captain Cheese?"

"Because he's cheesy."

Owen scrunched up his face, but kept his eyes on the road. "What?"

"The stuff he says… it's cheesy. And he's called Captain Jack … so captain Cheese, init?"

There was a long drawn out pause from Owen. "Smith." he stated flatly. "I'm glad you decided you wanted to hunt aliens and not be a comedian because I can tell you now, you'd be shit."

Mickey shifted his body slightly to the side so he was facing Owen, as much as the confined space of the car would allow. And shot Owen a mixture of an intimidating glare and a pout. Which he maintained until Owen quickly glanced at him, before returning his eyes to the road.

His attempt at intimidation proved unsuccessful as Owen spluttered out a bout of laughter at Mickey's over the top expression. Which broke Mickey's concentration in seconds, causing him to laugh along with Owen.

It was good to have someone to talk to.

* * *

_Canterbury – The Carter Residents_

Rose's heart felt like it was ramming into her rib-cage with every thump. She could handle Cybermen, Daleks, and everything in between, yet still, she was convinced her nerves were never as strained as they were at this exact moment. This was so ordinary – being introduced to someone's family. Yet, so extraordinary at the same time – it being Jack's family. Jack, who she'd somehow brought to back to life forever and who then spent hundreds of years waiting –still waiting – for the Doctor to return. Jack, who now had a grandson even though he looked no older than forty. Jack, who had conveniently left that little bit of information out about his life until a few minutes ago.

Suddenly there was movement from the other side of the door. Oh God – Rose thought – give me aliens any day.

A middle aged woman answered the door. Rose could instantly see the resemblance between her and Jack; she had the same colour and thickness hair and her nose was almost identical to his. She looked slightly older than Jack; Rose would be more convinced they were brother and sister, had she not been aware of his 'condition' as Jack calls it.

As soon as she did Jack stepped to the side and the woman's eyes practically popped out their sockets at the sight of Rose. It didn't take long for Rose to realise that Jack had been blocking her from view the whole time. And the woman's expression made it very clear that she was not expecting Rose in the slightest.

"Alice," Jack said calmly. "How's things?" The woman – Alice, slowly turned her head to where Jack was now standing, her eyes filling with fury. The woman started to open her mouth and Rose tensed, preparing for some verbal onslaught to follow.

But whatever Alice was going to say was cut short when a young blonde haired boy pelted towards them.

"Uncle Jack!"

"Steven!" said Jack, as he spread his arms wide for the boy to run into. "Hey, soldier, how you doing?" he picked the boy up and held him in his arms.

"I was talking like an alien. Everyone was. It was brilliant." the boy explained excitedly, as Jack carried him quickly into the house; leaving Rose to fend for herself.

That bastard.

* * *

_The Hub – Cardiff_

Ianto had snuck into the hub only to realise that none of the others were back yet and Tosh seemed to not have realised that he had been gone for four hours. It had been a lot longer than he expected, but when his sister mentioned that bar in town he knew that she had found out about him and Jack. God that was embarrassing.

But still he felt like he had to tell her, she was the only family he had left now anyway. As Ianto started preparing a new pot of coffee, he couldn't help but wonder where Jack and Rose were, and what they were doing together.

According to Jack she was 'a very good friend of mine,' and 'they go way back,' but whenever he had pushed for more information he had gotten nothing, which was infuriating since Ianto believed that he and Jack were finally making progress. That he was finally starting to open up.

But he had to give credit where credit was due. Ever since Rose and Mickey had started working at the hub Jack had become happier and more lax, in a sense. When Gwen had approached him about telling Rhys what really goes on at work he surprisingly gave her permission to do so. More than that, he had actually let Gwen bring him along to the paintball game that he had begrudgingly organised. Which only happened after Rose and Mickey had nagged him to 'do something outside of work' and to 'stop being so boring' which Jack, hilariously, found extremely offensive.

And in the end the team seemed to work together better since they had joined. And if Jack was happy then it was worth it. So Ianto shook himself out of it and brought a fresh cup of coffee to Tosh.

* * *

_The Carter Residents – Canterbury_

The tension was so heavy, Rose was pretty sure she could see it materialising and clouding her vision. Alice's stance looked like she was about to launch herself at Rose any second. And if looks could kill – which Rose was pretty sure they could on some far away planet – the glare Alice was giving her was certainly the closest thing Rose had ever experienced.

"If you think you're going to let you anywhere near that boy you can forget it." she spat, keeping the front door, where she was standing, partly closed.

And Rose scrunched up her face in confusion. Why would Alice think that? "What … no ..I"

"Oh please, something happens to kids, and suddenly he brings you to my door."

Rose was stunned for a moment. Jack _had_ wanted to use a child, but she knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't have gone behind her back - if he'd decided against bringing her here back at the hub that is. But that did make Rose wonder, why did he want to come here?

"No… I… look I'm not ere t' cause trouble." Rose said, a sounding a bit too defensive than she should. She meant it though. She didn't want to cause a problem for Jack, but it seemed that whatever he had wanted her to help with she had already failed miserably.

Alice raised her eyebrows in disbelief, and leaned causally on the door frame. "Sorry" said Rose.

"… Look… I'll just wait in the car." Rose waved her hand nervously towards the convertible behind her. Alice just kept staring; urging her to do so.

"Sorry to bother you." she said, before giving an awkward wave as she started to walk back towards the car.

Alice scanned Rose up and down; this was a far cry from any of the Torchwood operatives she'd had the misfortune to meet before. And being as it was her father who brought her here, she could be nothing else. Still, this girl was almost _too_ good; she was ridged and nervous but seemed genuinely offended when she had mentioned Steven. But she had to be Torchwood.

"Wait," called Alice. "You really expect me to believe you're going to just sit there and wait for him?"

"Well… Yeah. I don't drive so…" Rose said, having stopped from where she was by the front gate and had turned around to face Alice.

Well, she certainly didn't _look_ like a Torchwood agent; thought Alice. She had been clearly growing her hair out for a while; her bleach blonde ends, almost half its total length, contrasted with her natural darker colour. Not something you would see in Torchwood, they would've forced her to dye it all one natural shade, or took a razor to it and made her wear a wig. They tended to be cruel like that. And her clothes were miles away from normal suit and ties she had seen occasionally around the house growing up.

"If you're not here for Steven then why are you here?" Alice demanded, as she fully opened the front door, folded her arms but maintained her stand-offish stance.

"I dunno." Rose said honestly with a wave of her hand. "Jack asked me if I wanted to meet you. And… I dunno it seemed important to him so I said I would." Rose's gut instincts told her honesty was the best policy, she just hoped they were right as she waited anxiously for Alice to say something.

Alice, on the other hand, now had no idea what to make of this girl in front of her. Her answers were too natural and unbelievable to be a ploy. And more to the point, if she was telling the truth and Jack had brought her here to meet them, then who exactly was she to him?

"And how do you know my father?" Alice asked.

"He's my friend." Rose replied instantly.

Alice gave a short, humourless snort. "Friend? He doesn't have any friends."

Rose said nothing. She knew arguing with this woman would be pointless.

"So you do work for Torchwood. then?" Alice said with a knowing smirk; Jack never socialised outside of 'the job' and even if she was just a receptionist or something similar, there was no other way they could've met. And from the shocked look that spread across Rose's face Alice knew she was right.

"Well yeah" Rose said hesitantly. "But" she quickly added. "We knew each other before then."

"That's impossible."

Rose said nothing. She didn't have a short answer that it Alice was looking for. And anyway, she wasn't sure how much Jack wanted her to know. It seemed they weren't close by any means.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Rose Tyler."

Alice gave Rose one final look over. Her father was many things but he wouldn't let someone know about her and Steven if it wasn't important and this girl seemed genuine enough. Alice stepped aside so Rose could enter the door.

"Well then, Rose Tyler you better come in then."

Rose was unsure but Alice motioned her head towards the door and Rose hastily entered. But just as she was about to step through the door Alice grabbed her in a painful grip around her arm. Rose jerked to pull away but decided against struggling when she saw the fire burning behind Alice's eyes. Alice leaned in close to Rose and whispered dangerously into Rose's ear. "If you so much as look at my son the wrong way; I will kill you. Even in front of my father, if I have to."

Rose quickly gave a few successive nods in understanding and Alice released her vice like grip and gave a sweet smile. "Now then, the kitchen's this way." And she moved further into the house.

Rose waited a few seconds to follow her. She was Jack's daughter all right, and if anything her threat had actually comforted Rose in a strange way. Having someone think she was a threat to her having to prove to them that she wasn't was a far more familiar social situation to Rose than turning up unannounced on your best friends, secret family's, doorstep.

But Jack was right she'd be fine …. even though she was still going to have a right go at him later for not warning her beforehand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: The Time King and the Princess of the Powell Estate
> 
> When: About three/ four days 
> 
> Other notes that aren't important but you can read if you want: I worried a bit about if Jack taking Rose with him would be a 'in character' thing to do. I thought he seemed more open with companions of the Doctor, not just Rose but Martha too. And he's especially close to Rose because they've actually travelled together for a long period. And also I needed something for Rose to do as well as a situation that showed their relationship with each other (because the original episode looked at the team's families) so I decided to go for it in the end.  
> And with Tosh's mum, well the lore is a bit confusing to me. In the episode it seems they were quite close but in one of the books it's different. I sided with them being close because I'm a sucker for good parental relationships. 
> 
> Thanks so much for reading. I love reading what you think even if it's just to correct a grammar or spelling mistake (I don't have a beta so sorry in advance if you spot something.)


	6. Day One, Chapter Five - The Time King and the Princess of the Powell Estate

_The Mind Foundation Private Hospital – East Grinsted_

Gwen pulled up to the Foundation Hospital. It seemed to be an old posh house that’d been converted. A quick flash of her fake police ID got her though the doors a nurse led her through to Dr Belle’s office.

Gwen’s eyes darted around the office for anything that might give her more of an insight into this doctor’s character. The office was decorated with potted plants and old, grand, oak furnishings which contrasted with the clinical binders and boxes neatly organised on the shelves either side of the room. The room itself was rustic and reminded her a bit of those cottage getaway brochures in the Tourist Centre. 

Dr Belle herself seemed to have a certain warmth to her, her experience told Gwen was hard to fake. She looked like what Gwen imagined a much older Mrs Honey from Matelida might look like rather than a psychiatric doctor.

Gwen took a seat opposite Dr Belle’s desk and after the usual pleasantries were exchanged it quickly became obvious to Gwen that Dr Belle wasn’t going to share any information without permission from Timothy’s adopted sister; Sophie. She claimed that she wouldn’t say because of the laws around patient confidentiality, but Gwen could sense there was something more to it than that.

She was protecting him.

“What aren’t you telling me?” Gwen asked in a low tone.

Dr Belle looked stunned by her question, only briefly, but it was long enough to tell Gwen she was right or at least on the right track.

Dr Belle stumbled over her next words. “I..I’m not… I told you the patient co-”

“Now, we both know that’s not true.” Gwen leaned closer towards Dr Belle from the chair she was sitting in. “Why are you protecting him?” 

Dr Belle’s eyes flickered downwards. She started fidgeting, looking slightly agitated. “Well… well, I suppose it’s only natural. He was one of my mother’s first patients at the hospital, she’s the one who open this place. A woman running a hospital back then, even more so a mental hospital. As you can imagine at first there weren’t a lot of patients. But, she became quite good friends with the family that trusted her to look after their son.”

Gwen retained her glare. Her speech was all very well and good but it was obvious Dr Belle was trying to re-direct the conversation, trying to make Gwen feel pity or empathy for Timothy.

“Why are you protecting him?” Gwen asked in a firmer tone.

Dr Belle ignored her, her eyes still fixed on the desk. “ He was only eleven when he came to us. –“

Gwen’s eyes widened but she said nothing. Eleven, bloody hell.

“- poor thing. You see I’ve known the family nearly my whole life. My grandmother especially took a particular interest in his case. She wasn’t a qualified physician but she did used to be a nurse, worked in schools mostly. My mother asked her to help with the patients, anything to save cost in the early days.” Dr Belle looked lost all of a sudden. “But for some reason she was always interested in him.”

“You still haven’t answered my question.”

Dr Belle snapped out of it and firmly glared back at Gwen. “Yes, well you can hardly blame me.” she snapped. “It must’ve been less than three hours we gave that footage into the police, they must’ve had copious amount of information given to them, and yet, somehow you’ve appeared on at my workplace, from Whales, no less, which, I know, is least a two hour drive away. Are you really a police officer? Or something else entirely?”

Gwen stared for a few moments, battling whether or not now was the time to be truthful or not. This woman was smart but Gwen didn’t think she was a threat. She had sent in the footage of Timothy to the police, even though she had to have known someone would ask questions sooner or later. That told Gwen that Dr Belle wanted to do the right thing.

Gwen leaned back into her chair and relaxed her posture. She didn’t want to seem threatening but she also wanted to shift the tone in the room, to let Dr Belle know that she was the one making the decisions; otherwise Gwen didn’t think she would tell her what she knew about Timothy. 

“I was a police officer. But now I work for an organisation who deals with instances like this. And let me tell you this now, and I mean every, bloody word of what I’m about to say. As long as Timothy’s not hurt anyone then I _promise_ you we will not hurt him.” Gwen said truthfully.

Dr Belle considered this for a few moments, her eyes studying Gwen. Gwen wasn’t sure if she’d done enough but then Dr Belle nodded slightly.

“I’ll call Sophie and let them know you’re coming, she’ll tell you what she knows.” she said calmly.

Gwen sighed in relief. “Thank you.” 

* * *

_The Carter Home – Canterbury_

Alice was standing ridged in the doorway into the garden. She was keeping a very watchful eye on her son and the mysterious woman Jack had brought to her door. After Alice had introduced Steven to ‘Rose’ he had taken an instant liking to her and practically dragged her outside to show her his banner he had been working on. Now, they were painting something on a huge sheet of plastic, Steven was telling Rose what to do and Rose was trying her best to follow his instructions. But, the strong wind was making it very difficult.

Alice had yet to blink for fear this ‘Rose’ might do a runner with him any second. But it had been over fifteen minutes now and Jack’s eagerness at Steven’s invitation to Rose told her that this was her opportunity to ask questions.

Alice risked a brief glance over to her father – who was leaning silently on a kitchen counter close to the French doors leading to the garden. She was taken back when she saw his face. He hadn’t noticed that Alice was looking at him and instead he was staring at Steven and Rose. He was looking at them with such an expression Alice had never seen before; like he was witnessing something impossible, and couldn’t quite believe he had been given the privilege to see it.

Whoever this woman, no girl, was to her father; she wasn’t here to take Steven. It was something else.

“Tea?” she asked snapping Jack out of it.

“Sounds good.”

* * *

_The McCarthy Residents – East Grinstead_

Gwen had just pulled up to the drive way and her eyes widened at the sight of the house, it was big, posh and the grounds looked like it belonged to the National Trust. The house was so grand that Gwen wouldn’t have been at all surprised if she found out Pride and Prejudice was filmed here. Whoever this Timothy was, it was clear he had led a very comfortable life with this family.

She was greeted at the door by an old woman, Gwen would guess in her mid-sixties. She was slim and her hair was grey and wiry, like a poodle dogs’ ears, same length too. But, her face was wrinkled with laughter lines, telling Gwen she’d lived a happy life. And her eyes sparkled with a warmness that she instantly took a liking too.

“Ah yes Dr Belle told us you’d be coming, you must be DC Cooper. I’m Sophie.”

“Sophie nice to meet you.” Gwen shook the woman’s hand.

“You better come though.” Sophie stepped aside to let Gwen through.

Gwen smiled as she stepped through the door and looked around the house. She had never been to visit Buckingham palace but she had a feeling this is what it would look like. Gwen didn’t try and disguise her awe “I’ve got to say, your house is bloody gorgeous.”

Sophie gave a warm smile. “Thank you. It’s been in my dad’s family for generations.” Sophie gave Gwen some time to take in her surroundings before adding “Tim’s in the conservatory.” said Sophie, as she nodded her head towards a hallway.

“So was it your idea to take the video?” Gwen asked as the two of them walked down the grand hallway.

“Well actually no, it was Dr Belle. Timothy has been having bad episodes of late. So, she suggested we film it when it happens so that she can assess Timothy more accurately.”

Gwen was quick to pick up on the information. “Wait, sorry. Timothy has spoken like this before?”

“Oh no.” she said dismissively. “But he has had terrible flash backs in the last few months. But when I saw on the news about the children I contacted Dr Belle right away and she suggested I hand it over to the police.”

“When you say flash backs, flash backs to what?” Gwen asked tilting her head in confusion.

Sophie stopped walking and turned to face Gwen. Her smile faded and her voice turned serious. “We think he was taken. By what exactly we don’t know but he believes it was aliens.” Sophie took a nervous breath inwards before continuing. “And given all the goings on these last few years, I’m more inclined than ever to believe him.” She paused for a moment, studying Gwen’s reaction. “You think I’m mad.”

Gwen’s eyes popped open. “No, God no.” she chuckled and gave a welcoming smile. “It’s my job to deal with stuff like this. If anything I think you’re more sane than most people.”

Sophie’s warm smile returned. “The conservatory’s just through here. Best let me talk to him first.”

Gwen nodded and followed Sophie into a large antique looking sitting room; with a large conservatory like extension at the back leading to miles of rolling fields. Timothy was sitting on a sofa reading something, he seemed perfectly relaxed. Gwen waited a bit further away while Sophie approached him.

“Timothy, this is Gwen she want to ask you some questions about the voices you’ve been hearing.” his sister explained.

Timothy jerkily looked up towards Gwen and looked very frightened all of a sudden. His sister acted on instinct and sat down next to him to comfort him.

“It’s okay” she said. “Dr Belle called me earlier and said the Gwen is a lovely lady and that she listens very well.” she explained calmly.

“Really?” asked Timothy wearing an expression like a child.

“Yes” her sister replied confidently, rubbing circles on his back. Sophie cast a look at Gwen, telling her it was okay to continue.

Gwen approached slowly and sat on the sofa opposite. Tim looked up at her hesitantly, before looking back at Sophie who nodded at him. Tim seemed to find this reassuring as he relaxed slightly “Can you remember the voice? You said, we are coming. Can you remember why?” Gwen began.

“I was a kid.” he said, his voice shaking.

“What happened?”

“They took us out. In the night, in the dark.” he said, maintaining eye contact with Gwen for a brief time. “Isn't it, isn't it?” he repeated, throwing his head to one side, like someone was whispering to him in one ear. “They told us, they said we were going to a new home.”

“Who did, who said?” asked Gwen, keeping her tone as professional and as calm as possible.

“The staff.”

Gwen needed more information.

“A care home?” she asked, Timothy acknowledged her question but didn’t answer it as he continued. His sister was still by his side listening to his story.

“They drove us away for miles and miles.” Timothy continued, his breathing getting heavier as he remembered. He remembered the bus, he remembered watching the tress rush past the window.

“They were there in the sky.” he told Gwen. But his memories were becoming too strong and he looked up as if he could see them.

“What did they look like?” Gwen asked, more firmly than before.

But Timothy could barely hear her, images of his friends were violently shoved in front of his mind. He could remember the giant flash of light that took up the whole sky.

“Light” he murmured, still looking upwards.

“The light took them.” he continued. He remembered them standing together, the whole room was a light, then one by one the other children were yanked towards it; engulfing their bodies, their screams filled his ears, as if it had happened a few hours ago.

“Took who?” he could hear the lady ask.

“My friends” he muttered, her question bringing him back slightly. His sister hushed him and rubbed his shoulder comfortingly.

“But not you?” she asked, but that sent another wave of memories flooding back.

He remembered being so scared he couldn’t move. He had been yanked back like his friends and there were more lights in his face but this time it wasn’t big, it was small like when he visited the dentist. He could see shadows moving behind them and he knew they were dangerous. He tried to run but he couldn’t, he wished for it so badly. He screamed at his legs to move but they wouldn’t, something was holding them.

He knew he needed to run RIGHT NOW. 

And the next thing he knew, he was.

“I ran. There was something.” he tried to explain but it was so difficult to separate what he was saying and what he was seeing as the memories were getting stronger and more vivid with each passing second.

He was back on the moors now, his legs were sore but he was running, running as fast as he could. He kept looking back to see if they were following him, but it was so dark he couldn’t see. “There was people.” he continued, as he remembered the giant stone wall that he had no choice but to frantically climb over. He had made it to the top but stumbled and fell over the other side only for someone to catch him. “There was.” he continued as he remembered looking upwards towards the mysterious stranger. He remembered the stranger’s dark eyes. He remembered he could almost feel how sad he was, and how very, very, angry. 

He wanted to tell the lady, he did, but the memories had gotten too loud.

“Isn't it, isn't it, isn't it, isn't it?” he repeated, swinging his head to the side each time.

Gwen moved in to sooth the poor man, along with his sister. “Shush. You're all right. You're safe, okay? You're safe now.”

But it would take another ten minutes for him to fully calm down.

* * *

_Carter Residents – Canterbury_

“So who is she then, really?” Alice asked as she finished making the tea and going to hand it to Jack.

“She’s an old friend.” Jack replied dismissively, taking the cup from her.

“Oh come on! She’s obviously more than that.” 

Alice was in no way naïve to her father’s numerous ‘ventures’ but even after he and her mother split up they had never been serious and he’d never, ever, taken them to meet her or Steven.

“Alice it’s not like that.” Jack said seriously.

Yeah right. Alice shook her head, clearly not satisfied with that answer at all. Jack took a slip from his cup to fill the silence. But Alice wasn’t going to let this slide that easily. He had dumped this girl on her doorstep without so much as a phone call. A vague sentence on the subject wasn’t going to cut it this time.

“She said she knew you before Torchwood.”

Jack stopped and looked up at her. He seemed surprised that the girl had told her that. She knew it was probably a lie but she wanted to see his reaction.

“It’s true.” he stated.

“Oh please.” Alice rolled her eyes. “She’s closer to Steven’s age than mine.” Alice’s face fell as a thought entered her mind. “Is she like you?”

“No.” Jack said instantly. “God, no.”

Every syllable out of her father’s mouth made her angrier. Why did he have to be so emetic all the time? She folded her arms crossly and shrugged. “Then, how?”

Jack paused for a long time. He actually rocked slightly, hesitant on whether he should say or not. His eyes fell on the cup he was holding, having suddenly found tea so interesting. Alice knew her father well enough to know that his barriers were weakening, and if he did speak in the next few seconds, whatever came out of his mouth would probably be the truth. 

“Do you remember those stories I used to tell you when you were little?” he asked, looking up at her. “The ones about the Time King, the Princess of the Powell Estate… and Thane the Time Agent?” 

* * *

_East Grinstead – The McCarthy residents_

Timothy was lost in his own world, Gwen could tell. He was trying his best to answer her questions but the memories were clearly too much for him to handle as he began repeating. But his sister knew what to do and began calming him. 

“But they're coming back.” he said turning to face Gwen for a brief moment before losing himself again. “I've been smelling them for months. In the air. Long time coming.”

“It’s okay, Tim” Sophie said. “This lady can help, remember.” before nodding to Gwen indicating to her to continue.

“She’s right, Tim, I can help.” said Gwen in a soft tone.

“Look at me.” and he did, not right through her this time, he could see her.

“I can help.” Gwen’s voice was full of resolve. “If kids went missing, something's got to be written down and I will find it.” She touched his shoulder lightly; to reassure him. “But to do that, I need to know your name.”

Gwen could see that he was debating whether or not to tell her but after a few moments of silence he stuttered out, “I was Clem. Clement MacDonald”

Gwen smiled but Clem cast his eyes down to the floor. His sister smiled warmly and gave Gwen a little nod to tell her that was his real name, confirming what Gwen suspected all along, that Sophie knew his real name wanted it to come from her brother first. Gwen didn’t hold it against her. She respected the fact that Sophie did not want to betray her brother’s trust, in fact it made Gwen trust this family more.

“Hi Clem.” said Gwen, reaching out her hand for him to shake which he hesitantly did.

“Hi” he replied with a smile.

“Where were you from?” Gwen asked.

“Holly Tree.” Clem replied, looking her in the eyes.

“Holly Tree. Now then, is that a town, or a place, or?” Gwen probed.

“The Holly Tree” Clem answered, trying to be helpful.

“The Holly Tree. Is that where it happened? Clem? What was the Holly Tree? What was the Holly Tree?” Gwen said, trying to keep his mind on track. Clem seemed to be lucid as retained eye contact with her.

But Clem took a sudden obvious sniff and his expression flipped, from serious to amused, “You’re pregnant.” he said quietly.

Gwen was midway through her next sentence by the time she’d realised what he had said.

She leaned forward and tilled her head, not quite believing what she heard. “Sorry”

“Yes, you are.” he said looking at her with gentle eyes, before adding “She is.” to his sister, who just gave a small smile and continued calming him. 

“No, no I don’t think so.” Gwen replied, utterly thrown.

“Yes.” Clem nodded. “I can smell it. Three weeks.” he said, completely focused on Gwen.

“It’s true.” Sophie turned to look at Gwen. “He has a gift.” Gwen’s eyes darted back to Clem, who had not taken his eyes off her and nodded to confirm.

Gwen’s jaw practically hit the floor. “Congratulations.” Clem added.

“I know this might seem like a surprise.” Sophie strained her neck towards the direction of the sitting room; looking for Mandy.

Mandy was waiting on standby, but stood to attention instantly when she saw that Sophie was looking for her and rushed over to the sofa. 

“Mandy can take you take Gwen through to the kitchen for some water.” Sophie glanced quickly towards Gwen to let Mandy know that something had happened between the two. Mandy nodded and went to help Gwen up.

“Come on love, we’ve got tea too if you like?”

Gwen was quick to recover and smiled kindly at Mandy. “Tea will be great thanks.”

Sophie called to them as Gwen and Mandy walked towards the kitchen. “I’ll be with you in a moment.”

* * *

_The Carter Residents – Canterbury_

Alice was staring at her father in stunned silence. Of course she remembered. The adventures of the Time King and the Princess of the Powell Estate were her absolute favourites growing up. She remembered she used to beg Jack to tell her a new story every time she went to bed. Her mother was never keen on them.

‘You’ll give her nightmares.’ she used to say.

‘No I won’t I’m not a baby.’

But it was a lie.

Of course she’d get nightmares, atrocious nightmares. The kind that used to keep her up all night. The monsters they faced in the stories were horrific and terrifying. But if she told her parents the truth then she would never hear the stories again. And she did _not_ want that to happen. The stories were so astonishingly amazing, so tantalisingly thrilling, and so utterly unbelievable.

That they were worth every second of nightmare she experienced.

“Yeah course I do. But what have those stories got to do with her?” Alice asked.

Jack looked at her and waited.

Alice stared back at him. “No.”

Jack kept looking at her.

“You can’t be serious.” she smiled but her eyes betrayed her inner doubt and her face fell as she realised her father was, in fact, serious.

Alice’s mind raced, faster than it ever had before; and that was saying something. She’d always known there was something more to those stories but she thought it was simply a dramatic re-telling of her mum and dad’s Torchwood cases. But if the stories were true then; Who was her father?

“But… that’s impossible.”

Jack raised his eyebrows. If Alice wanted proof of the impossible then all she had to do is look at him – a shining example.

Alice leaned on the kitchen counter, fearing her legs would betray her. She stared at the same point for the longest time. Her eyes unblinking as her mind continued to race. All her life she had wanted to know who her father really was before Torchwood. And now she realised he had been telling her all along.

Jack saw and tensed slightly. Maybe he had said too much. “Okay?”

Alice nodded. And returned to silence. She looked out to Rose and Steven the wind was blowing the banner around, making it difficult to paint it and Rose and Steven were trying their best to secure it. They were both giggling as paint splattered everywhere.

Alice turned back to face Jack, not taking her hands off the counter, fearing she would need the support.

“So she was telling the truth.”

“Yeah.”

“She’s the Princess?”

“Yeah.” Jack’s tone changed. “Although, she sorta goes by Rose these days.”

Of course she didn’t need to ask who he was out of the three. The way he always spoke about the Time agent; ‘Thane the insanely dashing,’ ‘Thane, the unbelievably good looking,’ ‘Thane, the ultra-intelligent.’ He always said it in jest, but he talked about himself the same way. 

“And those stories they were true?”

“Yeah”

“All of them?”

“Every single one.”

Alice laughed humourlessly. “What? Even the one with the farting alien?”

Jack raised his voice in feign offence. “Especially the one with the farting Alien.” 

“The 8 ft farting alien who turned in to an egg.” she said disbelievingly.

“A green egg” Jack said flatly, before waiting a moment to add. “Went great with toast.”

Alice widened her eyes in shock horror. She defiantly did not remember that part. Surely they wouldn’t, would they? But before she could say anything Jack burst out laughing at her expression “Kidding, kidding. Sorry I couldn’t resist.”

“Oh you bastard.” said Alice before laughing along with him.

* * *

_McCarthy Household – East Grinstead_

“Sorry about that.” said Mandy to Gwen, as she handed her a hot cup of tea and sat down beside her at the kitchen dining table. “Not the best way to find out, but he didn’t mean any harm.”

Gwen was busy going through the motions in her head. Rhys had made that comment about a nursery on the way over. She knew he wanted kids but she wasn’t sure herself, especially with her job. She snapped herself out of it. She had a job to do. “No, I know, thanks.” Gwen took a generous swig of tea. “Has he always been able to do that?”

“Oh, yeah.” Mandy replied. “And not just pregnancy, he can tell when my blood sugar is low, and when you’re about to get sick.”

“He can detect any sort of changes in the body?” said Gwen, realising this was probably why Dr Belle was so protective over Clem in the first place.

“I guess so yeah.”

It was at that moment that Sophie walked in the room and Mandy instantly got up to greet her. “He okay?” she asked.

“He’s calm now, but if you could keep an eye on him while I talk with Detective Cooper?” Sophie asked.

“Yeah sure.” and Mandy hurried away to the next room.

Sophie sat down in the chair that Mandy had just left. “Sorry about that. I’m sure it was quite a shock.”

Gwen was quick to dismiss it. “No it’s fine really. Dealt with far worse.”

Sophie seemed satisfied with her answer.

“So I guess you’d like to know what I know about Clem?” said Sophie, her voice trying to be strong but faltering. Gwen guessed she was worried about what would happen if she told her the truth. 

“If you could, Sophie. This could really help a lot of people. And I’ll tell you now we only care about helping the children, nothing else. You have my word.” said Gwen leaning over the table and grabbing Sophie’s hand. She looked straight into Sophie’s eyes with a burning determination, willing Sophie to believe her.

Sophie nodded. “Dr Belle told me the same.” She pulled her hand away. “I’m afraid, far as how he was taken I’m afraid you know pretty much everything I do.”

Gwen looked disappointed.

“But, I might be able to tell you some information about how he came into our care.” Sophie, added.

Gwen perked up. “Please any sort of information could help.”

“Clem was brought into our house when I was around fourteen. My father was a very generous man and was well known in the local village. One night he got a call from the local constable. A traveling salesman, a Mr James McCrimmon and his wife, they found Clem wandering the road late at night and brought him to the local police station. It was far too late to call social services so my father brought him home. It was only meant to be for one night but, he when two weeks passed and no one reported him missing. He had become part of the family by then and we couldn’t just send him away.”

Gwen smiled warmly, this family really cared for him. Clem was very lucky to have found such loving people to look after him.

Sophie continued. “It was months before he even talked to us it was only then that we found out he had a Scottish accent but my father called around the police stations there and found nothing.”

“Scotland? So how did he get down here?”

“We have no idea. Whenever Clem is lucid enough to talk about it, all he tells us is that he walked into a blue box.”

Gwen narrowed her eyes confusingly at Sophie.

“Back in those days there were lots of those blue, police boxes around, so we assume Mr McCrimmon used it to call the station after they found him. No mobiles back then. But other than that he’s never said anything else.” Sophie, explained.

Gwen nodded. “So then, what about this James McCrimmon, or his wife? Could they tell me anything?”

“I’m afraid not. Once they heard the boy had somewhere to stay they left and we never heard from them again. My father tried to call but by then they had already moved on from the inn they were staying at.”

The woman saw Gwen’s disappointed look in her eye. “Sorry it couldn’t be of more help” she added.

Well while it wasn’t much, it was far more information than they had this morning.

“Oh trust me, you’ve been more than helpful. You and Clem. Thank you.” Gwen said honestly and the woman gave a weak smile in return.

As soon as Gwen finished in the house she was on the phone. Sophie’s father might not have been able to find anything but certainly Tosh would.

* * *

_The Carter Residents – Canterbury_

Once the laughter had subsided, Alice had had time to gather her thoughts.

There were many questions on her mind. Where was the Time King? How did Rose get here? Why weren’t they with him? What happened? But the biggest one of all was…

“Why tell me this now?” she asked softly.

“Because you asked.”

“Dad.” Alice said flatly. “When have you ever told me the truth when I ask.” seeing through his obvious lie. An easy task given that a toddler could probably lie better than he just did.

“I do.” Jack denied, clearly another lie.

Alice dismissed his words with a shake of her head. Whatever his reason he was not going to tell her right now. And the fact that he had actually told her so much was enough to make her drop the subject.

“They said on the news that we should send them back to school tomorrow. Do you think it's safe?”

“Well, As far as we can tell, there aren’t any long term side effects.”

“Right.” Alice looked her father up and down. When did he get so honest? “I suppose if I don’t he’ll only complain about not seeing his friends.”

Jack nodded in agreement “Yeah, wouldn’t want him to feel left out.” Jack stirred slightly as the flow of the conversation slowed. “So, how are you for money?”

“Don't worry about that, you give me enough.”

“Any word from Joe?”

Alice’s face fell as she pictured her ex who had betrayed her trust, on the beach with some supermodel. “In Italy. With her.” Alice moved to the sink and started clearing up to distract herself. “They finally got married. But he er, he phones every now and then, and sends Steven postcards, remembers his birthday. There are worse fathers.” she said sadly.

“I’m sorry.” said Jack, taking Alice by surprise. Did he think she was taking about him? Because she wasn’t, especially not now.

“What you apologising for?” she said in a tone of jest, after finishing what she was doing in the sink and turning around to face him. “It’s not your fault. And anyway there’s got to be _someone_ for me out there who hasn’t spent the night with you.” Alice said, so bluntly that it took Jack a few seconds to process what she had said.

“Hey!” he protested, mockingly. "It's not my fault I'm so irresistible." He winked at Alice. 

Alice smiled along with him. She still had so many questions. Growing up he was always present but never there. He did the right things, but it’s like he was just existing, just watching. It was like he has lost hope. Now, he was different. God now that she knew it all seemed so obvious. The way he told the stories, he always seemed so invested, he cared so much about the characters, because they were real, they were his friends. It would explain so much, he was out of his own time, away from his friends, and forced to live a, probably primitive, ordinary life after experiencing such magical adventures. It's no wonder that he was so distant. 

But now he was different, he'd changed. 

She had notice the change when he last visited; it had been more subtle then. He had offhandedly mentioned to Steven that there was someone who used to be a police officer now working in their building who reminded him of an old friend. But now the change in him was drastic. And Alice could only guess it was because he had been reunited with ‘The Princess of the Powell estate.’

And whatever effect that was having on him, was making him better. 

“Are you staying for dinner?” she asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: The 21st Century is when everything Changes (The last chapter for Day One)
> 
> When: Four or five days? (I've almost, almost, finished writing the whole thing. Then, I need to edit days three and four... ugh) 
> 
> Other notes that aren't important but you can read if you want: So if you wondered why Clem's life is different in my version, hopefully this chapter offers some hints ;) What's a Doctor Who story without time-y whime-y stuff eh? There's also another little Easter egg I threw in can you guess it? 
> 
> As always I don't have a beta so sorry in advance. I love hearing what you think!
> 
> (Edit: Whoops! I didn't realise before that Jamie McCrimmon was actually a name of an old companion from the original series. But I'm actually referring to James McCrimmon from Tooth and Claw, I can't change it to John Smith because then it'll mess up the story. Sorry for any confusion.)


	7. Day One, Chapter Six - The 21st Century is when everything changes.

_Outside the Carter Residents – Canterbury_

Despite Steven's pleas for them both to stay they'd left shortly after Jack had spoken with Alice.

Jack figured Alice would want some time to think about what he had – essentially - told her about him and he didn't want push Rose more than he already had. She had survived the first round with Alice but more questioning might be a bit unfair to ask her to endure.

And besides, they had work to do.

Jack was surprised, however, that Alice had invited them both back for dinner once 'things had calmed down at work.' Part of him hoped that it was because she genuinely wanted to see the both of them, but only time would tell.

So after a nice goodbye Jack and Rose waved them off as they drove away.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" asked Rose, as soon as the house was out of sight. Her voice didn't sound angry. She just wished she had more time to prepare herself. And okay, she thought, maybe she was still a little angry that he threw her in the deep end like that.

"Because then you would've back out." he admitted.

"You don't know that." Rose retorted in a slightly harsher tone.

"Maybe" he shrugged.

There was a brief pause on Rose's part. She was studying Jack's reaction carefully and it was clear that he was uncomfortable with explaining it. From his body language he almost seemed shy, not his usual sure fire self. "Why bring me here now? And not after this is over?" she asked more calmly.

"I wanted to check on them. And you didn't seem busy." Jack explained, avoiding making any sort of eye contact.

Rose decided she didn't want push him further and simply nodded in reply. "Yeah, okay."

Jack returned to his usual playful, animated, tone, glad that she was dropping the subject. "So what'd ya think? Did they dazzle you with the old Harkness charm?"

Rose bit her bottom lip as she remembered Alice threatening her life. "Hmm Alice does remind me a _bit_ of you."

"Did she threaten you?" Jack asked instantly.

"Yeah, she did, yeah."

"Ha! That'a girl."

Rose snorted. "And Steven defiantly has your sass."

"Oh yeah? What'd he say?"

"He asked me if I was your girlfriend." Jack raised his eyebrows. "And I said no, and then he said he thought so because I was too pretty to be your girlfriend." Rose smirked "Which, y'know is true" she added with a cheeky smirk.

"Oh wow." said Jack coldly, pretending to be offended.

"Kids these days, no respect." he said, his face scowling dramatically, while shaking his head disappointedly. His mood didn't last long as Rose's laughter quickly caused him to break out into a smile.

Jack seemed back to his usual self now. "Thanks for telling me." Rose said softly.

Jack shrugged, keeping his eyes on the road. "Well you are the one always asking what I've been up to these last hundred years." he replied in his normal tone but then he grinned slyly and voice turned cheeky. "Now, if you really want to know _everything_ that's happened to me… I once knew these twins from the Stravous system and you wouldn't believe the size o-"

Rose was _very_ quick to interject. "Oh god, No! I've changed my mind. You don't have to tell me everything."

Jack laughed. "To late to back out now!" So as I was sayin – "

"No, I don't wanna know." Rose covered her ears with her hands and was about to start humming her favourite song, very, _very_ , loudly when Jack's phone started to ring.

"Saved by the bell, Rosie" Jack added as he shuffled in his seat for his phone and pulled it out of his pocket. He tried to tuck the phone into the crevice of his neck – so he could keep both hands on the steering wheel – but Rose took the phone and held it next to his ear.

Jack answered the phone. "Harkness"

It was Owen.

* * *

_St Alfege's Hospital – Greenwich, London_

For all the chaos that was going on above in the old 50's hospital building, Owen was glad the morgue was relatively quiet. The nurse who had let him in had, thankfully, left him to it.

He flicked through the notes of the autopsy while glancing back at the corpse in front of the steel table. He had had a chance to look at the poor sod's brain matter earlier, what was left of it anyway. It almost was like his brain had fried from the inside out. Which was consistent with how the children were controlled, only cracked up to maximum. And if they could do that to an adult it means they could do it to the children.

He needed to call Jack – now.

But suddenly, the doors to the morgue burst open. Owen jumped and instinctively reached for his weapon. Only for his shock to turn into frustration as he realised it was the nurse that had let him in. "Fucking hell have you ever heard of knocking!" Owen spat, as he calmed himself.

The nurse raised his hands in surrender. He had clearly being running as he was trying desperately to catch his breath. "Sorry, sorry. I wanted to catch you before you left."

"Why?" Owen demanded.

The nurse rested his arms on an empty autopsy table in front of him, he was still breathing heavily. "You need to see these." he said, after taking some time to catch his breath, rummaging through a satchel and pulling out a thick binder.

Owen narrowed his eyes at the nurse.

"He wasn't the only one." The nurse was still gasping for air. "There've been other patients." he heaved.

* * *

_McSharen Construction Group HQ – Plumstead_

Mickey pulled up into an industrial like warehouse area. A quick flash of his Torchwood ID got him through the gates. The place seemed to be buzzing; a lot of construction vehicles were dropping or picking up loads, and a lot of workers in hi-vis jackets jogging from place to place.

He parked the SUV in a sort of large corrugated metal garage, slung his laptop bag over his shoulder and got out the car. A heavy set gentleman with a wood choppers beard, wearing a hi-vis vest over a light blue polo-shirt, tucked into his black utility trousers, which, was partly hidden by his stomach, was straining his neck over the crowd of people.

Once the man caught sight of Mickey he waved him over with a welcoming smile. Mickey gave a nod and weaved between the other workers towards him. Once Mickey was within a reasonable distance the man outstretched his hand. Mickey went to grab and the gentleman snatched and vigorously shook Mickey's hand, overjoyed to see him, for some reason. "Inspector Smith" the man said, still grinning.

Mickey smiled cautiously, not quite sure what to make of him. He quickly looked the man up and down. "Mickey's fine."

"I'm Mo, short for Mohammad. You're here about Liam?"

"Yeah."

Mo let go of Mickey's hand. "I better take you through." said Mo, as he gestured to a pair of industrial, double doors slightly behind him.

"See I knew Liam didn't have a seizure or whatever the doctors thought it was. Me and 'im go way back, ever since we were kids." Mo chatted away, while he led Mickey down a wide corridor with overhanging florescent lighting, people still pacing from place to place. "No way he could'a died like that he was always so health conscious. He was the one all the kids used to spread out for when it was his turn to bat in Rounders. Y'know what I'm saying?"

If Mo expected Mickey to reply, he gave him no time to do so. "But that's why I sent that tape to the police innit. So tha-"

"Wait that was you?" Mickey interrupted, stopping in his tracks.

"Course, he's my best mate." Mo replied, sounding a little surprised.

"Well, did you find anything else?" Mickey asked; his voice hopeful.

Mo beamed. "Yeah right this way."

Mo led Mickey up some stairs, and through an open office. "You see." Mo continued, catching his breath after the climb. "I knew there was just something weird about how he died. I mean…" Mo took a few more gasps for breath. "I've spend hours look up stuff on the internet and I didn't find anything that even came close to the way he died, you get what I'm saying?"

Mickey nodded.

"So I got to thinking right? It must've been aliens. I mean, London, something weird happens, what else, you know what I'm sayin?" Mo continued as he led Mickey through another corridor. Mickey listened carefully but was it was becoming very apparent that Mo was not only a talker but also fancied himself a bit of an alien investigator. "So then I thought; mind control, got to be. I mean look at that stuff that happened at Christmas right?" They approached a single door with a sign 'security office' on it. "Here were are." said Mo as he unlocked the door and pushed it open.

The office was cramped and messy, it was packed with ruffled binders and shelves full of VHS tapes. There were scattered bits of paper littered around a central monitor station, old coffee mugs and fast food cups were dotted around most free, flat, surfaces.

Mo could sense Mickey's silent disapproval. "Sorry bin dealing with stuff, y' get me?"

"Yeah, mate we've all been there." Mickey replied. "So what did you find?"

Mo smiled. "Right. Well, I was looking through the CCTV for anything suspicious. Case someone tried to off him or somethin,' and the police didn't see it." Mo started rummaging through a stack of VHS tapes on the monitor station. "And I found this." he held up the tape triumphantly and put it into the recorder and pressed play.

Mickey carefully climbed over the clutter to meet him while Mo fell into a chair close to the monitors, making it clear that this was his domain.

The tape wasn't the best quality, but even so Mickey could tell the man on the tape was the victim. He was searching for something on the rows of shelving. They were huge, the spaces between them almost half the size of the victim, packed full with all sorts of construction equipment.

The victim's movements instantly caught Mickey's attention, Mo was right to keep the tape. The victim's movements seemed jagged, unnatural, like he was putting a lot of effort into doing them, or he was a puppet on a string. And as far as Mickey knew, the victim had no disability or history of strokes according to his records. No record of alcoholism or anything like that. And Mo had just told him he was very health conscious.

"Why's he walking like that?" Mickey asked.

"Ha! Because the aliens are controlling him innit!" Mo yelled, proud of his own skills of deduction.

"Why'd you say that?" Mickey asked as casually as he could.

"Cos," Mo shrugged, a little dazed by Mickey's question. "What else could it be?"

Mickey gave something between a shrug and a nod in acceptance, well the guy did have a point.

They both returned their attention to the video. The victim lifted a huge fan off the shelf and started walking towards a backdoor, highlighting his strange ridged movements even more. He moved towards the door frame but the large fan he was carrying was far too big to fit that way across. Like a dog trying to fit a long stick through a narrow fence, it appeared to not have occurred to the victim to carry the fan through the door the other way.

Mo scooted closer to Mickey, like he was about to reveal some damning secret. "He's stealing it." he whispered. "A piece of equipment he knows we use regularly, In broad daylight, in front of cameras he knows I monitor." Mo leaned away from Mickey. "I'm telling ya." he said confidently. "Aliens."

* * *

_St Alfege's Hospital – Greenwich, London_

Owen and the nurse were looking in awe at the documents scattered on top of the empty morgue table.

In total there were five other victims. There didn't seem to be anything linking them, all of them were different heights, genders, ages, builds. All died within the last few weeks. And the fact that they weren't on Tosh's list was very telling.

"Where the hell did you find these?" Owen asked.

"I was getting Mr Kane's belonging from storage – in case you wanted to examine them. And I found these records hidden under his clothing." the nurse replied, panic stricken.

"Who had access to storage?" said Owen, as he started taking pictures of the documents on his phone. Tosh could make quick work of tracing the victims.

The nurse frowned "Any member of staff had access to the room."

"Well what about the last person to handle his belongings?"

"It must've been Dr Suresh. He's the one who performed the autopsy."

Owen stopped taking pictures and quickly scanned some of the documents. Sure enough Dr Suresh was signed as the doctor who performed the autopsy on most of the victims. And according to him all the victims had died the same way. Owen turned to face the nurse. "And where's Dr Suresh now?"

The nurse suddenly looked very sheepish. "He's – He's gone."

Owen scrunched up his face. "Gone?"

"He just up and left one day, they said he retired. But that's weird because he's only like forty." The nurse's face fell. "Oh my god do you think they killed him! Is this a cover up?!" each word getting more and more panicked as he back up towards the door.

Owen ignored his question. If he told the nurse he was likely right, he'd panic and be of no use. "What about the other victims? Do you know where their bodies were sent?"

The nurse stared at Owen while his mind slowly started to regain his focus and swallow down his fear. He approached the table to study the faces of the victims.

"Err" the nurse looked carefully at each photo. "This guy." he pointed to a photo of a male in his late fifties. "I talked to his family on the phone and they emailed me this photo of him. They were asking for his remains to be released, but according to records the hospital he'd never been admitted. I thought it was just a clinical error. "

Owen looked at him disappointedly, hospitals are meant to double check this sort of thing.

The nurse realised why Owen was looking at him in such a way and stumbled over his next words trying to clarify his actions. "I checked, of course I checked. But there was no body in the morgue, so what reason did I have to doubt it?"

It was clear the nurse was feeling terrible for failing his patients in such a way and was desperate for some sort of reassurance. But Owen was never the best at that sort of thing. "Recognise any more?"

The nurse studied the remaining photos, this time his eyes fell on the picture of a young woman in her early twenties with curly brown hair. "And this woman." He pointed to her photo. "The funeral home filled the paperwork to collect her body but when they arrived here the records said she was discharged, but I treated her on my rounds on A & E, she flat-lined. I was right there. They told me it was because she was transferred to another hospital for autopsy and there must've been a mix up. And I didn't push because a few days later we got her ashes."

The nurse picked up the photo of the woman and studied it carefully. "I should've pushed harder, her family were so upset. They thought she had just got up and left." he said sadly.

The nurse snapped out of it and quickly scanned the rest of the photos.

He shook his head. "I don't know any of the others." he said, looking back at Owen. "Sorry"

Owen was thinking. Basically what the nurse was telling him is that the bodies of the other victims were disappearing from the morgue, which is the second time he had heard of something like that happening today.

"I need to make a call." Owen stated.

* * *

_Outside the Carter Residents – Canterbury_

"You're kidding?" said Jack, speaking into his mobile. Rose shot him a confused look.

" _Yeah, that's twice we've heard of that today_."

"You're telling me. What about this Dr Suresh?"

" _Apparently he disappeared without a trace. And you know what that means._ " said Owen on the other line, very quietly.

"Yeah, we should start looking in the bottom of the river. What about the other victims?" Jack said grimly, looking over to Rose.

" _I've sent their info to Tosh to sort through_."

"Get her to run a check on Dr Suresh first. If he was looking into it maybe he knew something we could use. Visit his home address, search his office, see what else you can find."

" _Right, what about St Helen's Hospital?"_

"Me and Rose will head there now. See what we can find. And be careful, we still don't know who or what exactly we're dealing with."

" _Roger that_."

Jack hung up the phone and nodded to Rose to take it away from his ear. "There were more deaths besides Liam Kane. Owen thinks it might be linked to the case we were working on at St Helen's this morning." Jack quickly explained.

Rose nodded. "Right."

A thought struck her. "Hold on. So how are the cases linked to the kids?"

"Owen's ninety percent sure that they were killed using the same technology used to control the children. He thinks they uped the signal somehow, or gave the host to many commands and overloaded their nervous system. That's what caused the first vic to seizure, or whatever that was on the tape."

"But if they can do that to adults then doesn't that mean they can do that to the kids, all of them?"

"Yeah exactly. We need to tread carefully. Last thing we want is them getting rattled and doing the same thing to the children."

"So, St Helen's hospital then yeah?"

"Yeah, hold on." Jack pushed down the accelerator and the car roared as it fiercely sped up.

* * *

_McSharen Construction Group HQ – Plumstead_

Mickey had to admit it. What he was seeing was looked pretty alien to him. Mo seemed genuine enough, but he was almost as much of a talker than Jackie. Best to focus on the information for now.

"And what's he taking?" Mickey asked.

"A mini industrial venting fan, we use the bigger ones to ventilate underground construction." Mo answered, pointing at the fan from his chair.

"And where's he taking it?"

"There's an access road through that door."

On the video Liam, the victim, was still continuously walking into the door, the fan hitting the sides, it would be comical if the situation wasn't so serious.

"Look you see!" Liam yelled, right in Mickey's ear, causing him to flinch. "Come on now he's bin at that for a whole minute. How can someone as smart as Liam was not realise that's not going to fit. He's being controlled, I'm telling you."

"Yeah, alright mate, calm down." Mo looked a bit guilty. "Are there any cameras recording the access road?"

"Yeah, but they belong to other companies and they won't let me look."

"Well it's a good thing I don't need to ask then." said Mickey, getting his laptop out of his bag and plugging in a USB router looking device into a port on the side.

Mo suddenly grew a cheeky grin. "Are you going to hack into their systems?"

"Maybe." Mickey answered dismissively.

What could he say? The guy's enthusiasm was infections. Just a little brag wouldn't do any harm and the poor bloke had put the work in. Mickey was sure he'd appreciate someone was taking his friend's death seriously.

"Don't you need a warrant for that?" Mo asked slyly.

Mickey gave an arrogant sniff. "Not in my department."

Mo was shell shocked and wide-eyed. "What so you're like special ops or something?"

"Something like that. So are you going to help me or not?"

"Ov course." Mo gave a mock salute. "Mo reporting for duty, special agent Smith."

* * *

_Dr Suresh's Flat –_ _Woolwich, London_

The door flew open with a bang. Owen quickly darted inside, weapon drawn. Suresh's office at the hospital had yielded no results, so he'd taken a cab to the address Tosh gave him.

Suresh's flat was a modern development, all big glass windows, open plan, and right angles. It made sweeping the place that little bit easier for Owen. Surprisingly, the place seemed in good condition, he still had a lot of belongings in the flat, but it didn't look like it had been tossed, which was unusual with these sorts of cases.

Once he was sure it was safe Owen wasted no time rummaging through the flat. He paid no consideration to keeping the place clean as he tipped the contents of draws on the floor. The open plan living, kitchen, dinner, area had got him nowhere, so he swiftly moved to search the bedroom.

He hastily searched the usual places, wardrobe, under the bed, cupboards. Nothing. Then, as he moved to the en-suite bathroom he noticed one of the floorboards under his feet was particularly squeaky. Odd, given that this building was a new build, as Owen knelt down to further inspect it he noticed one of the wooden panels had quite a lot of chips on one of the edges.

Owen got up from his crouching position and looked around for something to pry the wooden panel open with. On a nearby dresser he spotted a screwdriver, probably what Dr Suresh had used himself. He crouched down to the floor again and wedged the screwdriver to the part of the wooden panel where all the chips were located. And sure enough the panel loosened to reveal a hidden compartment.

"Bingo."

* * *

_St Helen's Hospital – Cardiff_

By the time they'd arrived at the hospital it was well into the night. When the convertible pulled up to the hospital, Dr Rupesh was already waiting by the entrance; Jack having called him on the drive over.

Rose and Jack got out the car and walked towards the entrance to meet him. Rupesh looked a bit surprised to see someone other than Owen with Jack and looked questioningly towards Rose.

"Rose, Dr Rupesh, Dr Rupesh, Rose." stated Jack quickly

Rupesh offered Rose his hand. "Nice to meet you." he said; Rose shaking his hand. "You too. He's Jack Harkness by the way." she pointed towards Jack and Rupesh offered his hand to Jack. "Nice to know your name."

Jack was in too much of a rush and ignored him. "Do you have what we asked?" he asked, quickly shaking the doctor's hand.

Rupesh looked sheepish all of a sudden "Look there's been another death." And Rose and Jack both exchanged knowing glances.

"Show us." Jack demanded.

And within a second the three were marching through the hospital. "Mister Chow Lee Jee, Chinese again. He came in with a nosebleed that wouldn't stop. Next thing you know, it's been diagnosed as a brain haemorrhage. He died at sixteen twenty five." Dr Rupesh explained as they moved through the different sections of the hospital at almost a sprint.

"And he hasn't gone missing?" Jack probed.

"Not yet, once I recognised the signs I've tried to delay the paper work."

"Good work. We'll need to run a toxicology scan, not on the NHS, we've got much better equipment." Jack demanded.

"Whatever you need to solve this." said Rupesh as they approached a lift and Rupesh hit the downwards button.

"What about his family, hav' they been told?" Rose asked.

"No." Rupesh sounded guilty. "I needed to avoid suspicion so I thought it best to keep them in the dark for now."

"It's probably for the best." Jack agreed, looking over to Rose. The lift arrived and the three stepped inside. "We can let them know as soon as we figure out why they're killing these people."

Rose nodded.

"What about information on the other victims?" Jack asked.

Rupesh shook his head "I gave you everything I have."

The lift dinged and the doors opened into an empty clinical basement corridor. It looked a bit run down and creepy but so did every other corridor Torchwood went down.

"It's just down here." Rupesh motioned his head to a room further down an empty corridor.

His wording caught Rose's attention and she gave Rupesh a side glance, 'it?' 'It' was a person not so long ago. She looked to Jack for confirmation, but he didn't seem to notice the doctor's choice in words so she made a mental note of it for later.

The three turned the corner and sure enough there was the man lying dead on the autopsy table. Jack rushed towards the body for a closer inspection and Rose looked over his shoulder while he checked the body.

But the next thing Rose knew she was being violently grabbed from behind.

* * *

_McSharen Construction Group HQ – Plumstead_

Mickey was busy sorting through a pile of DVDs. In the end the other companies didn't seem to store any of their files online, so he and Mo had to go round and retrieve them physically. Mo was now sitting on the floor behind him; having cleared a space away in the messy security room, to spread out his pile of DVD's to make them easier to sort through.

Mo was high spirits, having finally been able to progress in his investigation. "I just don't believe it. Did you see his face! I don't think I've ever felt so satisfied in my life! It was better than sex. Just don't tell the wife! Bahaha I knew I would find a way to help Liam. I'd know I'd get these tapes. I just knew it. Oh this is it. Here"

Mo scrambled to get up from his position put the disc in the DVD player and started fast-forwarding the disc to the correct time. "7:31 here we are."

It only took a few seconds of footage for a white utility van to pull down the access road and stop outside a back door. And sure enough the door opened and Liam started jaggedly dragging the fan towards the back of the van.

Mickey was half expecting a teleport or something. A van seemed very low tech. But nevertheless it was a lead. "Do you recognise the van?"

Mo shook his head. "I mean we use vans like that, a lot of the places round here do but we all have our logos on the side."

Mickey considered the information. "Can anybody access the road? Or do you need to sign in or something?"

Mo looked a little guilty. "Well, you're technically meant to lock the gate after you but no one does."

"Right."

"Can you run the plates?" Mo asked hopefully, leaning over Mickey's shoulder.

Mickey scoffed. "Can I run the plates? Give me a chance."

Mo beamed and Mickey typed away on his laptop as he glanced at the footage being shown on the screens of the CCTV monitor station. "It's registered to a company... Noble Earth Construction"

"So what now?"

Mickey turned round to face him, getting a bit suspicious. "I shouldn't really be letting you see this, you know."

Mo held his hands up defensively. "I know. But he was my mate. I just want to know what happened I won't tell anyone I swear."

Mickey let out a breath, this guy was definitely a 'personality' as Pete like to call it, but he was growing on him. "Well alright then." And Mo grew a smile, but Mickey pointed an accusing finger at him. "But I'm serious you can't go blabbing to people."

Mo brought his fingers to his lips, motioned them shut like a zip and threw away an invisible key.

Mickey turned back to his laptop screen. "Okay then, now we find out more about this company and if they made him take anything else."

* * *

_St Helen's Hospital – Cardiff_

Rose screamed instinctively but whoever grabbed her was quicker and shoved a gloved hand across her mouth. She wildly resisted and trashed about, desperate to get Jack's attention. Luckily, it only took the sound of her shoes slapping against the floor for Jack to realise something was very, _very,_ wrong.

He whipped his body around to her general direction, the fear clear in his eyes as he saw her being held by some sort of special op solider; dressed in full black military gear.

"Rosie!"

Jack lunged at her attacker, one hand outstretched in an attempt to reach her, the other; he drew back, ready to strike her aggressor. But, Rose's attacker dragged her back towards the door as they wrapped their arm around her neck.

Jack tried to close the distance between them. But, no sooner had he put one foot in front of the other; two more operatives charged past the struggling Rose and seized Jack by the arms. He ignored them for a second, pushing onwards as if they weren't even there, desperate to reach his friend. But to Jack's frustration, two more operatives entered the room, hoping to aid their struggling colleagues. One fought to help keep Jack securely in place, the other tried to grab Rose's kicking legs.

Meanwhile Rose was proving just as a difficult target as Jack. A well placed kick warded off her second attacker and her wild thrashing had enabled her to get free from the choke hold. It was becoming more and more obvious her attacker wouldn't be able to hold her for much longer.

A second later she was free.

"Jack!" she cried as she struggled towards him, only for her arms to be re-caught from behind and pulled back. Her eyes locked with Jack for a brief moment before she lunged back at the one who had grabbed her, her sudden lack of resistance catching her 'grabber' by surprise. She kneed him full force between the legs and slumped to the floor in agony, a direct hit. Her second attacker tried to grab her less than a second later, but now she'd had time to process what was happening and was fighting smarter, Jack's training kicking in. She shoved their mask upwards with force, they were blinded.

Meanwhile, it was becoming clear to Jack that they might be able to win this thing if they could just break free at the same time. The fact that Rose had been able to do it made him fight harder in the three guards grip, swinging at them and hitting the exposed part of their helmets with a satisfying thud. He was an ex-Time Agent after all, and these guys were about to find out how just bad that was for them.

He suddenly stopped, his eyes wide in fear as he caught sight of a nasty looking guy in one of those full body suits that police wear at crime scenes approach Rose from behind.

He had a needle in his hand.

Rose heard Jack scream her name in sheer terror. She tried to face him only to feel a sharp pain in her neck and liquid move about under her skin.

"Rose!" Jack screamed as her eyes started to flutter shut. He's attention snapped towards the medic and lunged towards them; his anger and desperation enabling him to outmatch the numerous operatives trying to contain him. "You bastard!"

He viciously grabbed the medic, fist ready to strike.

Only to be shot in the head in the same second, his corpse falling to the floor.

* * *

_Dr Suresh's Flat – Woolwich, London_

Owen had spent the last few hours sorting through the mass of information that Dr Suresh had compiled. In total there seemed to be twelve other victims. Strangely, over half of the victims were missing persons cases and not bodies missing from the morgue. But as he thought back to what the nurse had told him it seemed to make sense. The paper work was disappearing, so the families of the victims were assuming they were still alive.

Dr Suresh was collecting information from other hospitals in London. It seemed all the victims visited hospitals shortly before they died or went missing, all had the same symptoms; a headache, hearing a hissing sound, constant and sudden nose bleeds.

Owen aimed his phone at the sheets of information and took a picture. Tosh certainly had her work cut out. "You getting this Tosh?" he asked through the earpiece.

" _Yeah, the symptoms seem to be a side effect of being controlled."_

"Controlled?" Owen asked, confused.

" _Yes, Mickey is at Liam Kane's workplace, he's found evidence that Liam Kane was under some sort of mind control and whoever was controlling him was using him to steal a piece of equipment from his workplace. I'm running a check against the list of victims you just sent me, maybe I can find a link."_

"What so you think they were used to steal equipment too? Bit over the top."

" _Yes I thought so too, but maybe whoever's using this technology isn't aware of the side effects, or maybe the side effects only occur in a small proportion of the population. For all we know thousands of others could've been controlled the same way."_

Owen considered this. "No that's not it, you should've seen the poor sods brain. There's no way someone can be 'controlled' in the way the vics were and not experience some serious side effects, in fact I'd be surprised if they survived at all, if I'm honest."

" _And you're sure it's the same sort of technology that's effecting the children? I mean if that's the case then shouldn't we be seeing similar side effects in the children? I've been checking the records for any child admitted to hospital with two or more of the listed symptoms and there's nothing_."

"Yeah the brain scans are identical to the tissue damage I found on the vic's brain. It's defiantly the same of technology, but whatever signal they're using to control the adults is far more powerful than the signal or broadcast their using on the children."

" _But if what you're saying is true, then they could, in theory boost the signal that they're using to talk through the children."_

"Yeah."

" _Shit._ " There was a pause as Tosh processed the information. " _Does Jack know_?"

"I think he's got a pretty good idea. Found anything linking the victims?"

" _Just one, I ran the names on the first five victims you gave me from the hospital. In three of them their workplaces reported missing equipment. And in all three cases, plus the first vic – Liam Kane, there was a van, belonging to a company called Noble Earth Construction caught on CCTV within a one mile radius at the time of the theft."_

"So what's so special about this company?"

" _Well, apart from the fact that Mickey has CCTV of the first vic loading the stolen equipment into a van owned by that very company, nothing else… yet. Just give me time._ "

There was a click as Tosh hung up the phone. Owen was deep in thought. There was a clear link to the children and the bodies in London; the medical records, the footage, the thefts, all linked to them being controlled somehow. Yet, there was nothing linking what they had found to the bodies going missing in Cardiff.

Owen was starting to think that Cardiff might be something different after all. He couldn't put his finger on it but something about Cardiff just seemed off.

A car horn from outside the flat cut through Owen's thoughts. Mickey had come to pick him up.

It'd have to wait until team re-grouped.

* * *

_St Helen's Hospital – Cardiff_

Dr Rupesh stood there; stunned, as he looked in awe at Captain Jack Harkness's motionless body on the floor of the hospital's morgue. The wound on his forehead was almost completely healed.

Rupesh was snapped out of his trance when he heard the clatter of the soilders' guns as they stood to attention outside the room.

A middle-aged, stern faced female entered the morgue dressed in all black leather, clearly the leader of the operation. Dr Rupesh glanced up at her as she entered and wasted no time airing his complaints. "Who changed the plan? I spent months researching that, linking it to those suspicious deaths I investigated in London. And they believed me. Perfect infiltration. I thought you wanted me inside Torchwood to see what they've got in there."

"They already know about London, and from what I remember it wasn't you who did most of the investigating, so get off your high horse, yeah?" said the woman as she gazed down at Jack and Rose lying still on the floor. A look of disgust spread across her face. "Is he dead?"

"…Yes." Rupesh gazed sheepishly at the floor, unable to meet the woman's eye.

The woman turned to Repesh with a scornful look in her eyes. "The orders were to take them alive until we know who she is." The woman nodded towards Rose's unconscious form on the floor.

"We had no choice." Repesh snapped. "We couldn't control him, either of them!" The woman glared at him; disapproving of his outburst and Rupesh quickly fell silent.

The woman looked down at the two bodies on the floor; studying the pair.

"Did you get a name?" she demanded.

"Rose, no last name, just Rose."

Jack suddenly sat up and gasped for breath. Rupesh jumped back instantly.

In the same second the woman shot him through the heart and he slumped back onto the floor.

"I can't believe it. He was dead." said Rupesh, looking in disbelief at Jack's body. "How the hell does he do it?"

"No one knows. Theory would suggest it's connected to the Torchwood Hub, that Rift thing, which makes the whole place a target." said the woman, as she waved a hand for the medical orderlies and operatives to enter.

All the medical orderlies were dressed in thin white hazmat suits; the kind that investigators wear at crime scenes to avoid contaminating the scene. They were carrying a variety of cases and equipment. At the same time, the black ops operatives lifted Jack on to the metal table, while others lifted the Chinese man off the table and into a body bag.

"So why not kill her?" Rupesh asked the woman.

"If we do there's no guarantee he'll go back to the hub before the battery of the explosive dies out." said the woman as the orderlies began to surround the metal table and prepare Jack for surgery.

"He's going to wonder where I've gone. How are we going to cover that?" asked Rupesh.

"How do you mean?" the woman asked as she oversaw the operatives zip up the body containing the Chinese man and carry him out of the room.

"Well, he's gonna try and trace me." asked Rupesh.

"You're not disappearing."

"Yeah, but I've got to, he's gonna…" Rupesh's face fell. He wasn't disappearing because he was going to stay right here… he just wouldn't be breathing anymore.

Rupesh took off down the corridor, literally running for his life; racing past the two rows of operatives. But it was futile. All it took was a single shot to the back. And his body feel down lifeless a few steps away from the lift.

"Put him next to the girl." she demanded, and the operatives wordlessly obeyed.

"Mam, we're ready for stage two." said one of the medical orderlies; stepping out into the hall. The woman – agent Johnson, took one final glance at Rupesh's body before she followed the orderly back inside the morgue.

Jack was lying on the metal table, surrounded by portable medical equipment. The orderlies were crowded around him and stood to attention when the woman entered. A portable scanner showed an active device had been placed into his stomach. Another showed that his heart rate was stable. She studied the scans while the operatives from the hallway entered the room and placed Rupesh's, still warm, corpse next to Rose and left.

Satisfied with the scans, she barked at the orderlies, "Do it."

One of the orderlies carefully took out some sort of reading, scanner like device, looking similar to a radiation detector; from an armoured briefcase by their feet. The same orderly carefully moved the device up and down Jack's body. It emitted a high pitched cracking sound when the device hovered over Jack's vortex manipulator. The orderly looked towards the woman for orders.

"Take it. Cut off his hand if you have to."

Luckily, for Jack, the device was a simple buckle, which a second orderly was able to get loose quite easily. "Do you think this is the key to his immortality?" they asked as they opened a more cubical armoured case and placed the vortex manipulator inside and closed it.

"We'll find out back at the facility. Close this down. Everybody out. Put him back where he was." said the woman, pointing to Jack. The orderlies obeyed and began dismantling and packing away the medical equipment with expert precision.

All accept one; the orderly holding the detector device. They stood there staring at the scanner through their tinted goggles. "Sorry Mam." they said in a frail voice, looking towards Agent Johnson. "I'm still getting readings."

Everyone in the room stopped.

The orderly waved the reading device past Jack and towards Rose. The cracking sound increased in frequency as they moved closer to her. There were shared anxious glances amongst them. Slowly the orderly moved the device towards Rose's coat pocket, where there the cracks were the most frequent.

The sound wasn't as strong as the readings for Jack's vortex manipulator, but they were still readings that they didn't anticipate. The orderly looked nervously towards the woman. The woman nodded and then they plunged their hand into Rose's pocket and pulled out a cheap looking, old, mobile.

Even through the orderly's full body gear it was easy to tell they were a bit dumbfounded by what they'd found. "Phones aren't meant to give off these sorts of readings." they explained meekly.

"Take it." said the woman bluntly. "And clear out."

* * *

_The Hub – Cardiff_

Gwen had arrived back first only to mutter something about patching herself up and made a b-line for the morgue. She had been there a good thirty minutes and Ianto was getting a little concerned.

"Everything okay?" he asked, as he peered his head around the morgue basement wall. Only to find Gwen glued to the projection screen. She was looking at a scan of herself. It didn't take Ianto long to realise why she had been behaving so oddly since she got back.

She was pregnant.

She jerked around to face Ianto; her eyes teary and lost.

"Gwen… I… congratulations." said Ianto, not having a clue how to handle this sort of situation.

It was at this inconvenient time Owen and Mickey returned and Owen wasted no time barging in to the scene. "Gwen, find somewhere else will you –" Owen stopped mid-sentence as he saw what Gwen was looking at. The projection was a scan of her internal organs; a tiny red dot in her uterus, indicating a small life was starting to form.

"Bloody Hell!" Owen exclaimed, causing the others to rush to the scene of the commotion.

"Is that what I think it is?" Tosh asked, rushing over to see what all the commotion was about.

Gwen looked as if she was about to go into shock as she rigidly moved her head to face whoever was speaking, only to realise that she was the one they were asking a question to.

"But, I mean that's good isn't it…. right?" Mickey asked hesitantly.

"Yeah. Bloody hell. It's brilliant." Gwen said, emotions running high.

"Congratulations" said Tosh, which caused an echo of the same words from the others.

* * *

_St Helen's Hospital – Cardiff_

Jack took a shuddering gasp of breath inwards as he jolted up from the floor. Did he die?

The first thing he saw was two bodies lying either side of him. One was Dr Rupesh, but Jack's attention was focused fully on the very still body of Rose.

"Rose?" he called, while shaking her arm gently. But he got no reply.

"Rosie!" he cried in a panic. He clambered to on to his knees so he was knelt down beside her. He wasted no time putting two fingers to her neck. He let out a breath when he found a pulse and then raised his palm to her mouth. He could feel her breath and he relaxed even more. She was alive and breathing. He carefully lifted her into his arms so he was cradling her.

"Come on Rose, rise and shine." he said softly, as he shook her gently and waited for her to stir. He took the time to quickly glance around the room and noticed the body of the Chinese man was gone. He looked at the doorway; fearing whoever attacked them would come back soon and finish the job.

Rose's eye slowly started to open. "Jack?" she asked dazed, as she shuffled and tried sit up. Jack helped her. "What happened?" she asked, using her arms as support, to keep herself from flopping back onto the floor.

"Easy." said Jack, as he slowly released her once she managed to keep her arms stiff and support her own weight. "You okay?"

"Yeah." said Rose, looking down at her legs with a glossed over expression. She paused for a while, thinking. "No, my legs feel weird."

"That'll be the tranquilliser." Jack explained, satisfied – for now - that she was going to be fine, he stood up and stepped around Rose to check over Dr Rupesh. Rose gave him a confused look but was still too dazed to say anything.

"Oh no." he sighed.

"Why wot is it?" said Rose, stumbling on her hands and knees – still fighting the effects of the drug, trying to follow Jack's line of sight.

"They killed him." Jack said flatly. Rose looked sadly over his body. "They've taken…" Jack's voice suddenly became strained. "They've taken the…" He paused again, his voice more hoarse. Rose looked at him with concerned eyes. "the … Chinese guy." He coughed, liked something was lodged in his throat. "We should get back to –" Jack started heaving and coughing at the same time. "-to the.."

"Jack?" Rose said in alarm as she tried to get up to help him but Jack waved her off so she stayed sat on the floor.

He kept coughing, sounding more and more like he was choking. Rose ignored his earlier protest and stumblingly pulled herself up.

He was heaving, choking. He was bent over at a right angle and clutching his stomach. Rose wondered if he was going to throw up and whacked him hard on the back. He made a horrible reaching sound and suddenly stopped.

"Jack?" she asked more hesitantly, rubbing his back while clutching onto his arm for support – her legs still felt jellified.

Jack ignored her and put two fingers deep into his mouth, like they were a pair of chopsticks, and pulled something out. He stood upright and outstretched his arm so he could study what it was. Rose could see it too and her eyes widened in shock.

"Is that a bullet?" she asked.

Jack nodded sadly.

"I'm sorry." said Rose.

"Not your fault." Jack pulled a handkerchief from his coat pocket and wrapped it around the bullet before placing it back in to his pocket. Maybe the bullet could help narrow down the shooter?

"Come on. We've gotta go." He continued, gripping her hand tightly with one hand, as he reached for his weapon with the other, grateful it was still there. He peeked hesitantly around the corridor, empty.

"These guys were professionals." He explained, as they marched to the lift. Rose was a little sluggish but trying her best.

"Let's get back to the hub. We don't know what those guys were after. We've gotta be ready."

_Fin_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *wipes sweat from forehead* Phew! Day One done. I know I didn't end it in exactly the right place as the original episode but this chapter is already so long. 
> 
> Next Chapter: The Final Countdown 
> 
> When: A few days.


	8. Day Two, Chapter One - The Final Countdown

_St Helen's Hospital – Cardiff_

Jack was pacing and weaving through the hospital, the staff and residents oblivious to his urgency. He had a firm grip under Rose's arm as he hurriedly pushed her ahead. Jack could tell that even though she was responding Rose was still not entirely recovered. This was made all the more evident as they marched through the wards and Rose was struggling to put on foot in front of the other. But he would have to worry about that later. Right now he just wanted to get them both out. They were exposed here.

"Jack." Rose said, trying her best to walk in a straight line. "Why'd they let us go?"

Now wasn't that the million dollar question. The special ops guys – whoever they worked for – just went through all that effort of capturing Rose, and killing him, just to let them go. But killed Dr Rupesh, why?

"No idea, it just doesn't make any sense." he replied truthfully, not risking looking at her and instead glancing around at the numerous staff and patients. If the officers were able to enter the hospital undetected, then the hospital was compromised.

"Do you think they know about you?" Rose asked. She was focusing so much on trying to solve the problem that she failed to register Jack's urgency – her grogginess helped, Jack suspected, by the tranquilliser or whatever it was. Nevertheless, Jack continued to usher her forwards.

"Dunno, maybe. But if they did, that still doesn't tell us why they didn't kill you. But shot Rupesh." Jack said, still marching onward. They were almost at the entrance now, he could see the sliding, automatic doors leading to the car park. If they could just make it back to the car…

Jack picked up the pace.

"They didn't at first though." said Rose, tripping up slightly at the increased pace, but Jack hoisted her upwards without slowing. "They tried t' grab us first, not kill us. What happened after they jabbed me?"

Jack was silent for a moment; just a few more steps, past the reception… and out.

They were in the car park. Rose blinked her eyes at the sudden bright street lights beaming down on her. It was pitch black outside. They had been out for a long time. By Jack's reckoning it was early morning the next day. He quickly scanned the car park for the car. He relaxed slightly when he saw it but was on edge again seconds later when he realised their mystery attackers may have left it there on purpose. They wanted them to get away? They wanted them to use car; to take them to the base? Or, was Rupesh was the original target so the ops guys didn't know what car was theirs? There were too many possibilities. But Rose was right, they did try to capture them alive at first. So...

"I got free, maybe that was it, right after they jabbed you. Something went wrong so they had to kill me too. Maybe they didn't _want_ to, but when I got free, they _had_ to. Or maybe Rupesh was the original target, perhaps he knew something we didn't" said Jack, as he pushed Rose towards the car. Although, he noticed that she was taking more of her own weight now.

"But he told us he gave us everthin'." she said, as they reached the car. Rose leaned on the side of the car while Jack opened the passenger front door.

"They took the body with them, maybe Rupesh found something but didn't know what it meant." said Jack, helping Rose in the car before jogging round to the driver's side, looking over his shoulder as he did so for anything that might be lurking in wait in the shadows.

Jack put the key in the ignition and the car sped away with a jolt. Jack took one final look in the mirror; one last chance to see if he could spot anything amiss. But he saw nothing.

Rose was quiet for a few minutes, watching the shapes speed past the window. Her elbow was propped up against the frame of the car window, her hand supporting her head. "Then why not kill him straight away?" she began, deep in thought. "They must've bin watching him to know he was in the morgue. Why didn't they kill him when he was by himself?"

Jack's expression changed. Rose was right and he didn't like what that implied. If they weren't after Rupesh, then that meant he was just caught in the crossfire, and that meant he wasn't the target after all.

Rose continued, still looking out of the window. "And why send so many people-" Rose paused, revelation clear on her face. She turned to face Jack. "Oh, my God! It was us. They were waiting for us."

Jack glanced at her briefly before returning his attention to the road. "Yeah."

"But if they didn't want to kill us then, they could've bugged us, or… I dunno… probed us or somemin? Get us to lead them back to the hub?"

But Jack wasn't convinced. "No if they wanted to do that they could've just tagged the car before we left."

"So, wot do you think they did?"

Jack didn't speak right away. He wasn't completely certain, and he really wished it wasn't the case, but if they were, in fact, the targets, and the ops guys weren't there to capture them, or – for arguments sake – kill them. Then the only other reason he could think of was they wanted to 'tag' them.

The term was from his Time Agent days, a tag could be anything from a body tracker to a remote kill switch. But the main objectives on 'tag' missions were almost always the same. To gain control, to gain the upper hand, basically, to make someone do what you want them to.

There were many ways to do it. Use a body tracker to blackmail the ambassador of U-Vice 5 into withdrawing his troops, threatening to flick the kill switch if the Long – Tail Murderer tried to pull a fast one while undercover. Or, which some of the more unethical members of 51st century society liked to do, tag loved ones so good people would comply with their demands.

Now, Jack wouldn't say he was a 'good' person, but they had injected Rose with _something._ And they had been out for so long they could've just as easily done something to him too.

He just hoped to God he was wrong.

Rose was looking at him for an answer. He let out a obvious breath. "I think they might've planted something in us. We lost a lot of time. That jab, it coulda been something more than a tranquilliser."

Rose looked a bit scared.

"But we don't know for sure." He tried to reassure. "Call Owen, tell him prep the Bekaran deep-tissue scanner. If they have done something we'll know, and then we can work out how to fix it."

Rose took a few moments to process what Jack had just said but recovered and nodded as she slid her hand into her jacket pocket, only to realise it was empty.

"You're kiddin' me."

A feeling of dread hit her like a sack of bricks.

She tried to calm herself. Maybe it was in the other pocket – no.

"Rose?" Jack asked nervously, glancing between her and the road.

Rose gave up all pretences of calmness and started frantically checking everywhere her phone could possibly be. It had to be here, she thought – it had to. "You're kiddin' me!" she said, using her legs to lift her bum off the car seat so she could check her back jean pockets. "They can't hav,' They can't hav'" she yelled, in full panic mode.

"Rosie?"

"My phone! They took my phone!"

"What?" Jack kept one hand on the steering wheel and awkwardly used his other hand to check his pockets. But his phone was still where it always was. They knew hers was different somehow? Who the hell were these people?

Rose, in the meantime, had taken her jacket off and started shaking it, still clinging to a tiny shred of hope that it was in there somewhere.

He quickly glanced over to Rose, who threw the jacket by her feet in frustration and slumped into the car seat in defeat. She sat there in silence for a bit with a mournful look on her face. "How's he gonna reach me now?" she said weakly.

"Here." Jack said, changing the subject. He kept his eyes on the road as he outstretched his arm that was holding the phone towards Rose, waving it in her general direction. "Call Owen."

Rose waited a few seconds she had a dejected look on her face but sighed and took the phone off him. As she did she instantly noticed there was something missing from his wrist.

"Jack." her voice was small. "Your vortex manipulator's gone."

"What!" Jack frantically rolled up his sleeve, using his elbows to awkwardly steer the car.

It was gone.

He'd been wearing it for so long, he had still felt it on his skin, like a phantom limb. Anger started to boil from within him. That was the only thing he had left from his own time. And they'd gone and taken it. "They must've scanned for alien tech when they jumped us." he explained, his voice furious. "God dammit!" He slammed the steering wheel.

Jack was silent for a while. They'd come after him and his friend, they'd taken the only bit of home he had left, and if he was right about being tagged, then whoever this guys were, they might have done something to him and Rose.

"Call Owen." he said sternly.

* * *

_The Frobisher Residents – Kent_

John Frobisher had just returned home. It had been a long, _long_ , day and his girls were already in their pyjamas, getting something little to eat before they went to bed. If only they knew what danger they were in. The pressure he was under was immense and no amount of scotch would calm his nerves.

Then he heard them.

His children were chanting. But this time it was different, this time he could see it.

" _We are coming. We are coming."_

He yelled at them to stop. What if this is when the 456 decided to kill them?

But they didn't. They just kept chanting. 

And as though God had descended to give him one final slap in the face, one final blow while he was down. All the children of Earth chanted " _We are coming, back_." before returning to normal.

And now the whole world knew the 456 had been here before.

* * *

_The Hub – Cardiff_

As the alarm for the vault door blared through the hub, the rest of the team was there, ready and waiting to be briefed.

Jack charged into the hub first, the fury in his eyes and dangerous expression told the rest of the team not to bother asking any questions. He said nothing as he went straight to the mortuary, where Owen was waiting. Gwen and Ianto followed him, wanting to know more and Tosh switched her attention between Jack and Rose – who had entered the hub few paces behind him.

Mickey had raced up to Rose as soon as she entered through the vault door. "Rose! You okay?"

"Yeah." she nodded sadly. "But they took my phone." Mickey gave her a sympathetic look. He opened his mouth to offer some words of comfort when Jack's voice cut through the hub from the upper platform of the mortuary.

"Rose your up." he called, from the entrance of the mortuary. Rose gave Mickey an apologetic glance before hurrying up the stairs to meet him.

"What abou' you?" Rose asked.

"Ladies first." he said, but his tone was far from playful. He stepped aside and gestured her to go down the steps to the lower platform of where Owen was, dressed in his white lab coat.

Owen pointed to a space by the wall opposite the metal railings, encasing the upper level of the mortuary. "Right Miss Tyler, if you could just stand up against the wall. That'd be great." said Owen in a mocking procedural tone.

Rose moved to the space and as she did so the others looked on from the upper platform above. Their faces were a mixture of confusion and worry, glancing between Jack and Rose.

Jack said nothing, his eyes locked onto the projection above Rose.

Had the black ops guys infected her with something to get to him? Or, had they infected them both to get to _him_?

"Right if you just look straight ahead and stand still. You might feel a slight tingling sensation." said Owen in the same light tone. He held a barcode scanner looking device, with a sort of old, analogue, TV antenna sticking out the end of the handle in Rose's direction. A red beam of light, also like the laser criss-cross lines of light on a barcode scanner, moved up Rose's body as Owen moved the device upwards. Behind her the scan of her body was loading on the projection on the wall.

The team looked on with baited breath as they waited for the scan to complete.

"All clear." said Owen as he looked towards Rose, and then turned his attention to Jack. "Causing a fuss about nothing if you ask me." said Owen with a casual shrug.

And the whole team relaxed, in particular Mickey, who was worried about Rose's safety.

The rest of the team looked towards Jack, his earlier tenseness dissipated in an instant, replaced with sweet, sweet relief.

They hadn't 'tagged' Rose, so that meant she was safe but it also meant they didn't know about the Doctor. Which meant the black ops guys were after him, his tech, or something else relating to Torchwood somehow. That he could deal with. 

"Okay I guess that leaves me." said Jack as took off his coat and gave it to Ianto. He moved passed the others, and switched places with Rose. Rose moved up the stairs, so she wouldn't be in the way. Mickey was quick to move next to her and quietly asked if she was okay, to which she nodded.

Owen did the same thing but this time when the red beam of light reached his stomach it sent alarm bells drumming through the hub. Jack spun his head round to face the projection; the concerned cries of the others shortly followed, as they bombarded questions at Owen.

"What is it?" "What's wrong?" "What is that?" "Jack?"

Who said what, Owen had no idea, he was too busy processing the results.

"Holy shit, he's got a bomb in his stomach." Owen gasped, wide eyed and barely audible.

"What do you mean Owen!" said Gwen in a frustrated yell.

"A bomb? When? How?" asked Tosh at the same time.

"I mean he's got a fucking bomb in his stomach." Owen yelled, loudly this time.

The whole team took a few precious seconds to process the information.

The tone of the room suddenly shifted, the tension cranked up to eleven.

"Well how much time to we av before i' goes off?" Mickey asked hurriedly.

And not even a second later Tosh was ploughing down the mortuary steps to Owen's terminal. Her fingers flew over the keys, so fast they were almost a blur. She paused and her determined expression fell. "7 minutes." she said solemnly, looking around at the others.

There was another wasteful pause – the lift could take longer than to get to the hub on it's bad days.

Jack's voice tore through the silence in a frantic panic. "Right everyone out. Get out! Go!"

He didn't want to lose his team. But his team ignored him.

"Right." said Owen flatly, before he started tearing through various storage compartments in the mortuary, frantically trying to get what he needed for surgery. Gwen and Rose rushed down to the lower platform to help. The other's rushed off to various other parts of the hub.

It was just one little explosion, they could stop it!

They were Torchwood!

"Overriding lockdown." called Ianto.

"Running a diagnostic on the explosive." called Mickey.

"Running medical simulations." called Tosh.

Jack was so stunned by their loyalty he was speechless.

"You can cut out Owen, tell me you can cut it out of him Owen." demanded Gwen, spilling out the words to save time.

"Get him on the table." Owen called to Rose and Gwen and they instantly grabbed on to each of Jack's arms and pushed him towards the metal table. Jack jerked his head to the two women.

"You can't cut it out in time, just go!" Jack yelled in desperation, struggling in Rose and Gwen's grip.

"No chance." Rose huffed instantly.

"Jack just fucking lie down." Owen scolded, needle poised in one hand as he pushed Jack's chest with the other.

"No, get out, get out! That's an order!" Jack screamed, he didn't want to lose them. Not like this. But they were forcing him down on the table. He was almost on it fully now. Jack tried to free himself but he didn't want to hurt any of them, but at the same time, he knew if he went under now then there was nothing he could do to get them to leave.

"I've almost got it." called Tosh from Owen's morgue terminal, fingers still flying over the keys.

"It's okay we can handle this Jack." Gwen tried to sooth, but her inner panic was obvious. She risked a quick look at the clock counting down on the projection behind her before turning her attention back to Jack. Her voice hardened "But you've got to LIE DOWN." Jack tried to resist but despite his best efforts the needle in Owen's hand was hovering dangerously close to his neck.

"NO WAIT!" but it wasn't Jack, but Mickey. He'd raced from his terminal to the upper platform of the mortuary. "They've rigged it. Any change in pressure and it goes off."

"Fuck." hissed Owen, and stepped away from Jack, causing Gwen and Rose to soften their grip and Tosh to freeze mid-type.

Jack quickly pushed himself off the table; jerking himself out of both women's hold. "Just go, GET OUT!"

But again, the team ignored him. They weren't going to just leave him.

"But, what does that mean?" Gwen asked Owen.

Jack took a breath. This was his chance to get them out. "It means there's nothing you can do." said Jack, calmly, "So just GO. All of you."

There was a shift in the tension, the some of the team's earlier determination had dissipated. And Jack could sense it. Good, he wanted them out.

"No we won't because we'll think of something, right Owen?" asked Gwen in a desperate panic, the words spilling out.

But as Gwen looked at Owen she saw such an expression she knew he had given up. Owen didn't want to but he was a doctor after all, he was trained to be realistic. Gwen looked around frantically to her other team mates, desperate for someone to suggest something. Tosh looked at her sadly, Mickey was unable to meet her eye, Rose was looking at her with a flustered expression that half mirrored her own and half trying to think of a solution. Gwen threw her hands up in the air in frustration at her team mates. The clock was ticking, come on people! 

Jack looked at the clock ticking away and took this as his chance. "I'm telling you it's too late just GO!" he said sternly.

Ianto, having heard everything, quickly joined them on the upper platform "Maybe we can send a magnetic pulse - fry the circuitry?"

Gwen nodded frantically, very thankful that Ianto had at least said _something_.

"We can't" explained Tosh sadly "It'll trigger the explosion. Any sort of tampering."

Jack looked up at the timer on the projection screen, only five minutes left. They'd wasted so much time! "That's an ORDER, OUT!"

But they ignored him once more. And Jack threw his hands up. Why were they all so God damn stubborn!

"Well then tell me Tosh what do we do? What do we fucking do? Because we can't just leave him." Gwen screamed.

But no one had an answer.

It's now or never, Jack thought. "Listen, Gwen, you've got to go. All of you…" Jack looked at the team who were now standing around the mortuary, tense and eyeing the exits. "Whoever these guys are they're serious." They seemed finally listening to him. "They've gotta be connected to the children somehow and they if they're trying to kill us that means we know something. Now I'm begging you please, You've got to get out, so you can stop this thing."

The rest of the share glances amongst themselves. They were still hesitant. They just needed one more little push, maybe a final task to get them to move. It would just waste precious time, but they'd leave. Only four minutes and a half.

"But we can't just leave Jack." Gwen yelled in desperation, Ianto nodded in agreement.

"You're pregnant Gwen." Owen stated.

"What?" Jack, swung his head round to look at her. Rose did too, her eyes wide in surprise.

"And unless you want Rhys to find out at your autopsy you need to go." Owen continued.

"Gwen, he's right." said Jack grabbing her shoulders. "Take the convertible and go." Jack inwardly thanked Owen that he'd even him something he could use to convince her to leave.

And thankfully she nodded and ran towards the garage.

"Tosh, Ianto take the SUV, upload as mush data as you can in one minute then _get out_." Jack ordered. Tosh started to hurry to her terminal. They were listening, good. "Mickey help them." Mickey nodded and quickly joined Tosh.

Ianto moved, but towards Jack; this was different to a bullet to the back of the head. "But Jack what about…" he asked, but Jack cut him off with a kiss. "I'll come back. I always do." Ianto searched Jack's eyes, about to protest.

But Owen interrupted the exchange. "Three minutes." he yelled impatiently.

Jack pushed Ianto towards the steps. Ianto took one last look at Jack, who nodded, before he started frantically rushing about on the main platform. Ianto didn't want to leave but he'd do it for him. 

Jack turned to Owen. "Owen grab as much gear as you can, if any of them get caught in this thing they're going to need you. You have 30 seconds good luck." Owen wasted no time grabbing as many things from the mortuary as he could.

Only Rose left.

Jack grabbed Rose, who had been very quiet, and led her up the stairs towards the pavement lift. Jack knew he'd be cutting it close, he also knew if Rose didn't go then Mickey wouldn't either.

In the background the rest of the team's frantic voices were chaotic to make out as they grabbed anything useful they could use, papers being tossed everywhere.

"Jack" Rose's voice was fearful. "What if yo- "

"I won't, I meant what I said, I always come back." Jack said sternly, grabbing her by the shoulders.

Rose's eyes started to get misty as she fought back the tears. This was her friend, she couldn't just leave him behind, especially since she promised herself that she'd never do that to him again, Doctor or no Doctor.

"I can't -." she choked out, shaking her said slowly.

"You can and you will. I'll come back –"

"But you can't know that!" Rose protested, her face becoming tear streaked.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the hub Tosh and Ianto had uploaded the data to the car and were racing off to the underground tunnel, leading to the car park, their arms full of equipment. Mickey was ready and was watching the exchange from a distance. "Rose two minutes." he yelled quickly. Owen was about to leave out the main exit when he heard Mickey's yell and looked to see that Rose and Mickey weren't moving at all. "Tyler!" he snapped.

Rose and Jack jerked their heads in Owen's direction. Jack quickly glanced at the timer on the wall of the mortuary. Hardly any time at all.

Jack tightened his grip on Rose's shoulders and let out a sigh. He needed to speak quickly. "Okay you're right, I might not come back." he admitted, Rose tried to protest but Jack didn't give her the opportunity. "There's a chance for me!" he said abruptly before his voice softened. "And I meant what I said back on Satellite Five, you are worth dying for." He gave a weak smiled. "You all are." But then his voice hardened again, full of certainty. "But you'll die for sure." He shook her slightly, trying to get his point across, his eyes pleaded for her to understand making the situation all the more poignant. "And if that happened, How could I face him?" he said sadly.

Rose didn't know what to say.

"Rose." Mickey called gently, suddenly next to her, when he got there she had no idea. "Come on." He took her hand but didn't try to force her to move, he knew rushing would be fruitless so had no choice but to wait.

Owen, meanwhile, was still waiting by the entrance to the hub, unsure whether to go or stay; not wanting to leave his friends behind - no matter how annoying he might find them sometimes - but also not wanting to die, either by burning to death or by being crushed, neither of those options beating passing away peacefully in his sleep that he hoped for. His eyes danced between Jack, Rose and Mickey, and the door that lead to the stairs. The alarms blaring in his ears and the flashing warning lights gave a strong argument, hell even Jack's creepy hand in the jar seemed to be dancing about. But still, he knew Jack didn't stand a chance but Tyler and Mickey did.

They just needed to move.

After a few seconds Rose shakily nodded and Jack released his hold on her shoulders. She let Mickey help her to the pavement lift. As soon as they were on it Jack flicked the switch.

Owen let out a sigh of relief as he saw Rose and Mickey move towards the pavement lift, with his conscience clear, he legged it out the main entrance.

Only forty – two seconds left.

"I'll find you, yeah!" she called as the lift ascended.

"I know." he said, fighting hard not to show how terrified he really was.

God, he hoped they survived, every single one of them.

Jack watched until the pavement lift ascended to street level, he looked at the timer – sixteen seconds left.

He thought of his team. He thought of the laughs they shared over day old Chinese food. He thought about the risks they took every day for people they never knew. He thought about Alice and Steven and how happy he'd been after finally telling her the truth. He thought about the Doctor and Rose and wondered if they'd ever find each other again. He thought all the things he'd miss if he didn't come back this time.

And for once in a very long time, Captain Jack Harkness, aka Javic Piotr Thane, aka Time Agent: Delta – Rena – 958, aka The Heavenly Plunderer of Alpstine Nine, was afraid of dying.

He closed his eyes, waiting for the all too familiar sensation of death to wash over him.

* * *

_UNIT's UK HQ – Tower of London_

It was late into the night and Martha was starting to wish she'd taken up Oduya's offer to be escorted to the officer's quarters. She sat on a table against a wall, swinging her legs just above the ground.

Everyone was busy.

Except her.

The room it looked a bit like a mix of ground control from a space station and major crimes office from a police procedural drama. It was well lit; allowing for the officers manning the computers on rows of desks, to see the new information concerning the missing children, being pinned on, or removed from, the numerous notice boards littering the room's outskirts. The notice boards were of various shapes and sizes; most likely wheeled in from other rooms in the building. All the desks in the room were all facing a large screen/ projection, which was being constantly being updated by the officers on the most state of the art computers Martha had seen - in 2007 anyway. 

The Doctor was standing by Colonel Oduya as a mass of uniformed officers manoeuvred around the two of them, waving bits of paper and clipboards under the Doctor's nose for him to dismiss or approve. The Colonel was watching, but from his occasional facial expression, Martha could tell he was taking in every word, eager to learn.

Another officer entered the room. Only this one looked more flustered then the rest of them, and surprisingly they weren't carrying any files or notes. As soon as they entered the officer – a short blonde haired, female, in her mid-thirties – quickly marched towards the Doctor and Oduya.

"Sir." she saluted Oduya.

He nodded in acknowledgement. "Sergeant Price."

"Sir, there's been an explosion in Cardiff, sir."

The crowd around the pair stopped in their tracks and turned to face the Sergeant, making room for the Colonel and the Doctor to be able to see her clearly.

The Doctor instantly perked up at the news. Sergeant Price paused a moment. "Intel suggests it was the bay, Sir." she added hesitantly.

There were some mutters in the crowd,

"The Bay? Why what's there?" the Doctor asked the Colonel.

"That's where Torchwood's HQ is rumoured to be." the Colonel replied.

"WHAT!" the Doctor yelled, and the crowd flinched. Martha got up to join them. But the Colonel didn't so much as twitch at the Doctor's reaction, he'd had the training, after all.

"Why the hell is Torchwood still active?" The Doctor demanded. Price was a bit taken and looked to the Colonel to see whether it was her place to answer or not. 

"After the battle of Canary Wharf the old regime was destroyed. And Torchwood one was dissolved." Oduya answered.

Martha's eyes widened, her cousin worked in Canary Wharf. She'd heard that day called that before. She'd always wanted to know what really happened but the Doctor _never_ said no matter how hard she pressed. 

"Yes I know that bit. I was the one who destroyed it." the Doctor said distastefully.

"What!" said Martha. 

But Oduya continued although nothing had been said. "Torchwood III remained active. Their main objective is to monitor the rift. And as Torchwood III cooperated fully with UNIT during the investigation, and as they are the most informed - "

The Doctor scoffed.

" - Some of the most informed operatives, regarding the rift. UNIT HQ believed it best to allow Torchwood III to continue its normal operations."

"Normal Operations?" the Doctor scoffed. "You mean go in all guns blazing, taking anything they like the look of, never mind if it destroys innocent lives in the process." His mind instantly thrown back to that dreadful day, to Rose clinging on the leaver for dear life.

Oduya paused for a moment. "I can't comment on something I know nothing about." he said calmly.

The Doctor opened his mouth, about to go into one of his rants. But the Colonel cut him off. "But I can say, that after Torchwood III changed management in 2001, there have been far less investigations into unexplained deaths in the area."

The Doctor stopped. Basically Oduya was saying this team was different. But how many times had he heard that. The Doctor looked around and saw that the other officers looked a bit scared. He let out a sigh and his body relaxed. "Oh well, no point now." the Doctor conceded, they were likely gone, after all. "What else do we know?"

"Sargent Price." ordered Oduya.

Price stood to attention. "Sir."

The other officers moved slowly away from the Doctor and Oduya went back to work at their desks as Price elaborated. "It's still early but so far all the reports suggest that the source of the explosion came from underground."

The Colonel nodded and the Doctor looked to him for further information. "Their base is meant to be located somewhere under the Roald Dahl Plass." he told the Doctor before looking back towards Price. "Any fatalities?"

"No, sir. Not yet. We've heard from special branch that they've dispatched the anti-terrorist unit. They'll keep us updated if they find anything."

"I see." Oduya thought. "Make contact with special branch. Tell them UNIT will be sending a specialised investigative team to the scene."

"Sir."

"And tell them be careful." the Doctor added. "We don't know what sort of technology they had in there."

"Sir."

Price gave a final salute to the Colonel before leaving.

The Doctor and Oduya watched Price leave the room. Martha said nothing, still trying to figure the whole Torchwood thing out in her head. 

"Do you think this could've been a targeted attack?" Oduya asked.

"Anything's possible." said the Doctor. "Do you know what they were working on before the explosion?"

"We got a call from their leader asking for information about the children."

"Right." the Doctor, thought away.

"Do you think it's possible whoever's behind the children may be responsible for the explosion?" Oduya asked.

"Well, I mean, it's possible, yeah." said the Doctor, but it was clear from his tone that he wasn't convinced that was the reason. "But, why only target Torchwood. Why not UNIT? You lot are working on it same as them."

Oduya nodded. "So what would be your theory?"

"Knowing Torchwood they were probably playing with something they shouldn't've." The Doctor's voice changed to a slightly darker tone. "Wouldn't be the first time." He stared off into the distance for a brief moment, his ancient eyes looking lost for a split second before blowing air out his cheeks and returning to a cheerier demeanour. "Still, better safe than sorry, eh? Keep an eye on it for now, until we know more." he said, as he hit the Colonel playfully on the shoulder.

"Sir."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Always keep a Fire extinguisher handy in case of emergency
> 
> When: A few days
> 
> Other notes (which aren't important but you can read if you want to):  
> This chapter was a bit sad right? (that's what I was aiming for anyway). It was a bit tricky for me to write, trying to get everyone to seem panicked and sad at the same time. But hey I gave it my best shot.


	9. Day Two, Chapter Two - Always Keep a Fire Extinguisher Handy in Case of Emergency

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Better safe than sorry - this chapter will have some gore. Nothing too gruesome but gore nonetheless.

_Gwen_

Gwen revved the convertible and screeched out of the Hub. The car practically flew out to the hidden entrance. Thankfully, she had made it out in ample time and drove the car round to the edge of the Plass, so she could rush in to help. But as she rounded the corner she was stopped by a pair of uniformed police officers – none of whom she recognised. They had set up some sort of check point – or barricade, Gwen thought – a few metres in front, practically sealing of the street up ahead. Their whole demeanour was off; the way they carried themselves, their gear – they were _not_ real police. Gwen was certain of that.

One of them knocked on her window and she hesitantly rolled it down and gave them a cautious smile. "Is there something wrong officer?" she asked in her sweetest voice.

"Yeah sorry luv." said one of the officers. He spoke in a London accent further confirming her suspicions. "We've had an alert for this whole area. You'll have to turn around."

What absolute bullshit. There was no alert; the hub would've been notified. These animals were waiting for the explosion to go off so they could take out any survivors. Luckily, it seemed this well trained genius must've been hung over when they briefed him.

"An alert? Goodness me. Is it safe officer?" she asked, sneaking a brief look at his belt. Sure enough, he was carrying a gun.

He nodded smugly, enjoying the power trip. "Don't you worry luv. No bad guys are going to get through us." Gwen strongly fought down the temptation to smack his ego down to size by reaching for his gun, flashing him her Torchwood ID, and knocking him out in one go. What a prick.

"Me and my men have this completely under control."

Suddenly, a bone shaking explosion when off behind him. A huge shockwave shattered every pane of glass on the surrounding buildings. Car alarms blared. And fire spewed from the Plass.

Gwen covered her head and ducked down instinctively. She could feel the intense heat on her face as she looked up in horror at the destruction.

Her friends were in there.

* * *

_Tosh and Ianto_

Tosh sprinted and leaped over the winding steps, her backpack choc-full of equipment. The secret passage way to the car park was always so long, that's why they always cut across the Plass instead.

"Ianto!" she hissed.

They were far past Jack's one minute deadline. They needed to make it out of the tunnel before the explosion hit. The way the air flowed through the tunnel, they'd be fossilised in an instant.

"Sorry." said Ianto, plodding behind, at a far too slow pace. He was still carrying Jack's coat under his arm, clutching it tightly, and he was holding some other equipment.

"Just leave it, just MOVE!" Tosh yelled.

Ianto dropped everything but a laptop bag and Jack's coat and scrambled to catch up with her, fumbling over the uneven ground. The passage way was so narrow it was difficult to manoeuvre at all.

An alarm on Tosh's wrist bleeped and her face looked like she had just seen a ghost, she whipped her head around, looking behind her. At the same time there was a sudden gust of wind that wailed through the tunnel, sounding like an earie scream that bounced off the walls.

"MOVE!" Tosh yelled as she swivelled back and pelted towards the entrance at the car park. Ianto didn't need to be told twice and ran the fastest he was sure he'd ever ran in his life.

In front of him Ianto could see the shadows flicker as the fire was forced down the narrow path like a wind tunnel, lighting up the tunnel from behind. He scrambled up the staircase and leapt through the open door, Tosh heaved it shut as soon as he passed through. The locked clicked and she scrambled out of the way, she predicted the metal door would not be able to contain the sheer force of the explosion, no matter how reinforced it was. Ianto clearly thought so too as he ducked down and shielded his head.

There was a bone shattering roar and a shockwave tore through the open car park, setting off every single alarm.

But the door held.

Thank fuck, it held.

Tosh risked opening her eyes and to her absolute relief found that she was alive. She quickly checked herself over, looking for any burns – or missing limbs. Her ears were ringing. She had clear scrapes and grazes on her hands and arms were she'd dove out of the way.

Then she remembered that Ianto was closer. She went to move but found the wind had been knocked out of her, and her body stiff, catching her breath she crawled to where she last saw Ianto, great effort needed for every movement. She looked under the car and saw him laying still, his head facing away from her. He was too still.

"Ianto." she called, but she could not hear her own voice.

Ianto didn't move.

"Ianto." she called again, her voice sounding like it was deep under water, her ears still ringing.

She moved towards him and shook desperately on the arm.

He jerked awake like he was expecting her to be an attacker. He had a nasty cut on his face but from what Tosh could see he wasn't injured seriously.

Ianto relaxed once he saw it was her and said something to her only for a look of confusion to spread across his face. He looked scared all of a sudden and pointed to his ears and shook his head.

Ah, through Tosh. She pointed to her own ears and mouthed very obviously. "Me too."

He nodded.

Tosh swung her head towards the car and heaved herself up. They needed to get out and quickly. She struggled and fumbled over to the driver's side. Ianto got up too, moving like he was drunk, to the passenger side, his legs still wobbly from the near death experience.

As they exited the car park, and turned down Peirhead Street towards the Plass, they could see flames reaching into the night sky behind the nearby buildings. The absolute devastation of the explosion. Where the Plass used to be there was now a humongous creator. The concrete columns that lined the outside were reduced to rubble. The Water Tower at the centre was completely obliterated; not even a stump remained. Nearby buildings were in ruins and flames were slowly engulfing them. Broken glass layered the nearby roads, like freshly fallen snow.

They could've turned the other way of course and gone straight on the A road, but neither of them could stand the idea of just driving off without even checking to see if any of the others needed help.

They frantically scanned the wreckage for any sign of their team mates, straining their necks to get the best view. But the darkness and aiding smoke made it a very difficult task. Ianto looked towards Tosh for reassurance only for his eyes to suddenly widen in horror. A red dot of light was travelling up Tosh's body and stopped square in the middle of her forehead.

"Tosh!" he yelled, although whether she heard the warning or not he had no idea. He yanked her down, causing the car to jerk to a stop. Tosh scrunched up her face in confusion. Ianto slowly moved his eyes to the windscreen. Tosh's face fell as she saw a large bullet embedded the glass with a trajectory on course for her skull. They locked eyes with each other, neither quite believing just how lucky they had just been.

Tosh quickly recovered and gave Ianto a wordless look of thanks. She returned to a sitting position and frantically restarted the car. Jack must've upgraded the car to her recommendations after all. Without a moment to lose she tweaked the gear stick, adjusting to the cars sudden stop. Tosh slammed her foot on the pedal, while Ianto quickly returned to an upright position.

The car had saved their lives but they both knew it couldn't take many hits like that again.

The tyres screeched as they desperately attempted to grip the road and the car launched down the street.

As the car swerved around the corner Ianto suddenly panicked as he saw they had barricaded the road up ahead. He looked over to Tosh, wanting to know what she was going to do.

But Tosh didn't slow down, she sped up, a look of determination clear on her face. Ianto put two and two together and scrambled to get his seatbelt on in time.

Successive rounds from several snipers followed them; denting the car's body and cracking the windows. With a jerking crash Tosh ploughed through the barriers and cars like they weren't even there, police diving out of the way, sparks flying, the police yelling.

Ianto risked a quick look back at the carnage, then back at Tosh who was fully focused on getting them out of danger.

His ears were still ringing but he relaxed in the chair.

It looked like they were out of immediate danger, at least for now.

* * *

_Owen_

When Owen woke up he was instantly aware of the unimaginable pain shooting through his leg. He hesitantly opened his eyes only to find a thick, jagged, metal, foundation pole protruding from his thigh. His eyes widened at the sight and his breathing became laboured. Blood was pouring out at an alarming rate. He tried to calm himself down but the pain was excruciating.

His hands were trembling as he moved them towards the pole. Even breathing made the pain worse. He looked around for any sign of help but he was in a sea of rubble.

"It's alright we've got you!" he heard in the distance.

He let out a cry of relief when he saw two paramedics; with torches, make their way carefully towards him.

One of them grabbed his shoulders and another, his legs. He saw them adjusting their stance to get ready to pull him off the foundation and knew then something was wrong – very, very wrong. Anyone with basic medical training would not attempt to remove it.

"Hey were you hangover when they were teaching what not to do with impalement injuries or what!" Owen hissed through pained breaths.

The two paramedics looked at one another in a way that gave Owen a sudden horrid sinking feeling in his gut.

They were defiantly not paramedics.

"Now hold a se-"

The paramedics yanked Owen off of the metal rod as he screamed in agony, trying as best he could to clutch his injury. But the pain was far too severe as blood spilled from the wound; sapping all his strength.

His body was limp, his arms and legs flailed about pathetically as the paramedics carried him to the back of an ambulance; parked on the edge of the creator. His mind tried to push through the pain and think of anything, _anything,_ that could get him out of this situation.

The so called paramedics wasted no time and essentially threw him onto the ambulance stretcher. One of them held him down, but they really needn't bother. Owen was far too week to put up any sort of a fight.

He could do nothing but watch as the other paramedic began to fill a syringe with something he knew was definitely not morphine. He gave one last frantic struggle against his captor, but his captor effortlessly pressed on his wound and Owen could only yell.

This was it – he thought – this is how it ends.

* * *

_Gwen_

Gwen looked at the fake officers, they had snapped their attention towards the explosion the second it happened and had started barking demands at their headsets.

The officer closest to her turned. "Best get out of 'ere luv, leave this us."

But Gwen was racking her brain trying to come up with some sort of way to get to the Plass.

"Come on luv. We'll protect you but you need to get away from here so we can do our jobs. Alright?" he said as if he was talking to a toddler, scared from a nightmare. It was so patronising Gwen almost punched his face in right there.

Then Gwen saw the unmistakable thin red laser of a sniper's sight, searching the ground of the obliterated Plass.

One shot was fired, they didn't bother using a silencer of any kind. The boom echoed through the vicinity. She jerked her head trying to locate the source but the way the sound hit the surrounding buildings made it impossible for her to tell its direction. Her face wild with panic.

A round of successive shots followed, seeming to get closer and closer. Suddenly, just in front of her, the SUV crashed through the barricade of the 'police officers' vehicles.' Many of them had to leap out the way to avoid getting tangled in the SUV's wheels. Sparks few as the metal of the, far inferior cars, that the 'police' had used to block the road impacted with the shielding of the SUV, which might've well as been a bulldozer given the way it tossed the cars aside.

Gwen gave a sly smirk. Thought that measly barricade could stop Torchwood, eh?

This was her chance. The 'police' were too busy with egg on their face to notice that Gwen was still there. She wiggled the gear stick into reverse, the car screeched as the tyres spun. The officer that had knocked on her window turned around. The car skidded to a halt, causing dust to be kicked up by the tyres. Gwen revved the engine. By the time the 'officer' saw the evil glint in Gwen's eye it was too late to shout a warning.

Gwen hit the accelerator, the car lunged forward like an angry bull. The officers dove out the way just in the nick of time, some of which had only just got up from their first dive or die of the evening.

She swerved the car like the Stig from Top Gear, moving through the opening that the SUV created with expert precision.

"Go back to London you English bastards!" she yelled out the car as she drove off into the night, being sure to give them the middle finger as a final parting gift.

* * *

_Owen_

Owen watched in helpless terror as the paramedic near the back entrance of the ambulance slowly finished filling the syringe. His eyes wide with fear.

The paramedic gave the needle a few flicks and cast his eyes down towards Owen; a cold, predatory look on his face. Owen recoiled in the stretcher but the other paramedic had him firmly in place.

He wanted to live.

He gave one last struggle, but it was fruitless. He closed his eyes and waited for the sharp pinch of the needle when a loud metal clang filled the ambulance.

Owen's eyes popped open and he sought out the source of the noise; as did the paramedic holding him.

But there was nothing. Only the other paramedic towering over him, syringe at the ready. But something was off – he was just standing there. His eyes were glassed over.

Another moment passed and he hadn't moved. Then, as if out of a cartoon, his eyes rolled upwards and he dropped like a stone on to the floor, revealing Rose standing behind him.

She was standing just outside the ambulance, on the step under the back doors, a fire extinguisher perched on her shoulder like she had just swung a home run. Owen and the remaining paramedic looked on in utter bewilderment, still needing time to process what had happened. Yet, somehow, it was Rose who look the most surprised out of all of them.

"Tyler?" Owen said in astonishment, propping himself up on the stretch with his elbows; the remaining paramedic distracted by his downed comrade, his intense pain momentarily forgotten.

Rose looked at him in confusion. The paramedic turned his attention to Rose. His face twisted into a furious expression as he fully released his grip on Owen and reached for his concealed pistol.

It was too little too late.

By the time the paramedic's hand had grazed his gun. Mickey had appeared from a hiding spot behind the ambulance back doors, gun drawn and ready to strike. His position on the ground compared to Rose's on the step, and Owen's on the stretcher, gave him a perfect line of fire. He landed two shot's to the paramedic's chest. The paramedic collapsed to the floor with his gun still in it's holster.

Owen, slumped back on the table in relief. "Thank fuck." he exclaimed.

Mickey dragged the paramedic, nearest the back exit, out of the ambulance, as Rose hurriedly stepped around the other to tend to Owen.

"Owen, oh my God." Rose said, her voice quivering as she inspected the very nasty wound on his thigh; still oozing blood. Her eyes darted around for something to use as a tourniquet. But it was quickly made clear that the ambulance was not planning on saving any lives tonight. So Rose wiggled out of her jacket and tied the sleeves very tightly above the wound.

Owen jerked up at the sudden increase in pain. "Rucksack" he rasped through clenched teeth.

"What?" said Rose, busy trying to stop the bleeding, her hands covered in blood, it soaking through the jacket in an instant.

Owen let out another cry of agony and attempted to clutch his injury as Rose placed pressure on the wound. "Rucksack, healing dart." he gasped, struggling on every word.

"Where is it?" Rose rushed out in a panic.

But Owen just slumped his head back on the table out of exhaustion, still conscious but breathing heavily, his eyes moved towards the creator that was once the hub before closing his eyes tightly as another surge of pain hit him.

Rose understood instantly as she gazed out towards the wreckage.

"Mickey, look after him yeah?" she said as she leaped out the ambulance.

"Rose where you going, they've got snipers out there. Rose!" Mickey protested, having just dragged the second paramedic outside, but it was too late, she was already gone so he turned his attention to Owen and tried his best to tend to his wound.

* * *

_Tosh and Ianto_

After six minutes on the main road Ianto and Tosh's hearing had returned. There was still a high pitched tone in both their ears but at least they could talk to each other.

Ianto looked out the window at the passing cars, his face growing increasingly concerned. "We need to get off the main road; we're drawing too much attention to ourselves." said Ianto, as he watched another driver examine the car's damage.

"I know." said Tosh. "I predicted this might be a problem. So I've looped the next junction's CCTV cameras on a seemless loop. Meaning the SUV won't show up on the footage for the next junction, but will on this one. It'll seem like the car has pulled off the road somewhere between the two."

"But won't they notice the other cars on the motorway disappearing as well, I mean if it is on a loop all the car models and number plates will be different, they'll work out we've tampered with it?"

"Yes." Tosh said as if Ianto was missing something obvious. "But hopefully they'll be so focused on finding us that it'll take them a while to notice."

Ianto didn't looked too convinced. Tosh had more to say. "And anyway even if they did figure it out, they'd still need to spend hours searching through the CCTV to find out what exit we took. I chose the next junction for the loop because it has the most exits, which means they'll be searching longer. And even then they won't find us because it just so happens than the next junction also has access to a disused, unlisted, access road to an industrial estate, with no CCTV."

Ianto was shell shocked; she thought that far ahead in a few seconds? "So, when did you come up with this, then?" he asked, casually.

Tosh shrugged again, not taking her eyes off the road. "When we were evacuating the hub…and maybe" she added hesitantly. "I developed contingency plans beforehand… just in case."

Ianto processed the information a bit longer. "All I managed was grab Jack's coat." he said causally.

Tosh smiled at him. "Well if it helps you feel any better you can help re-tune the police radio once we get to the industrial estate. It'll be the best way to see if the others made it."

* * *

_Owen, Rose and Mickey_

Owen was lying on his side, panting heavily, and rocking and twisting uncomfortably on the table; mostly due to the hole in his leg but also because he was trying to find anything to distract himself from the excruciating pain.

Mickey was tending to Owen's wound, but with the tools he had available – which was sod all. There was little he could do but make a bandage from Rose's jacket and keep pressure on Owen's leg.

"Where the bloody hell is Tyler?" Owen hissed out in a strained whisper, his eyes glancing towards the wreckage.

"She'll be here." he said, faking confidence as much as he could.

Apart from the flicker of the flames, it was dark. The ground was uneven; causing Rose to lose her footing several times. But she didn't care. Right now all she was thinking about was the rucksack, located somewhere in the rubble where she and Mickey had heard Owen screaming earlier.

Around her she could hear echoes of bullets ricocheting off the metal beams, exposed from the explosion, or the crack of brick as they hit the surrounding buildings. The odd glimmers of thin red light that she saw passing through the smoke seemed to be focused further into the wreckage. She hoped that whichever one of her friends it was they were firing at, that they'd make it out okay.

Once she reached the spot she hurriedly felt around for anything that felt like a rucksack but the flickering flames made it difficult to tell the difference between shadows and Owen's black bag. Her movements became more hectic as counted the passing seconds in her head.

At long last, her hands fell on something that resembled a strap and audibly gasped in relief. She yanked it triumphantly out of the rubble and barrelled back to the ambulance as fast as her legs could take her.

When she entered she saw Mickey's shoulders relax as he sighed in relief. "How is 'e?" she asked, looking down at Owen and flinging the rucksack on an empty part of the stretcher.

"He's trying not to die over here." Owen croaked out weekly. He didn't have the strength to lift his head.

"Right, Mickey get us out of here." Rose demanded. Mickey gave her a nod and scrambled out of the back entrance of the ambulance, shut the back door, and raced round to the driver's compartment. Meanwhile, Rose started searching through the rucksack with fierce determination.

"Side pocket." Owen groaned, just as the ambulance started to speed away.

Rose searched the said area and pulled out a dart gun which looked more like a glue gun you see in primary school. It was in a fancy leather case which had little velvet pockets lining the inside, holding six glass vials in each. One half of the vials were filled with a tropical ocean blue liquid and the other half were empty.

She hands trembled slightly as she removed one of the small glass vials from the pocket. The ambulance was bouncing around and she didn't want to – no, she could not – drop the glass.

At the end of the vial there was a small needle; no longer than a drawing pin. She jabbed the empty vial into Owen's arm and it filled with blood; wincing as she did so, knowing how little left of it he had. Owen didn't twitch; a drop of ocean in the entire sea of pain he was experiencing at this moment, his eyes clenched shut. She then clicked the vial into the part of the gun where the glue stick would normally go. The blood drained into the device with a similar sound to an airplane toilet.

The ambulance swerved and Owen cried out at the motion. Rose held onto the device for dear life as she too was knocked about. She spread her arms out, trying to keep Owen from falling off the stretcher. "Owen just hold on yeah." she tried to reassure him but her voice betrayed her fear.

After a few more seconds there was a bleep from the gun and a light on the side turned orange. Rose then removed the empty vial and replaced it with the vial filled blue liquid. The gun gave off periodic bleeps for another few seconds and Rose cursed under her breath for it taking so long.

"Glucose" Owen said.

"Wot?" Rose asked concerned.

"First pocket."

Rose unzipped the pocket and tipped its context out onto the ambulance floor.

"That's it." Owen cried through clenched teeth, his eyes darting to a large syringe in a plastic wrapper. There was no needle at the end; instead a clear plastic tube.

Rose unwrapped it and got ready to squeeze the think honey like liquid into the wound before Owen grabbed it out of her hand and began squeezing it straight into his mouth.

As Owen was downing the gel, Rose eyed the gun device with rapidly growing impatience. After what in reality was a few seconds, but to Rose felt like minutes, the gun gave off a long high pitched bleep and began to suck the liquid from the vial into the main part of the gun.

Another bleep told Rose it was done and she instantly jabbed Owen's exposed arm with the device. Owen's whole body started to slump, the device sapping his last ounce of strength. His eyes fluttered as he struggled to stay awake, he swallowed the last bit of gel before losing consciousness.

"Owen? Owen?" Rose called, but he did not respond. She placed two fingers on his neck, to check for a pulse and was relieved when she found one. She raised her palm to his mouth; still breathing.

She warily looked down at his wound, her breath hitched in hope. If she had done everything right, then the wound should have started rapidly healing itself.

"Rose?" Mickey called, but Rose ignored him. She peeled back the make-shift, blood soaked, jacket bandage that Mickey placed on him earlier.

Her whole body relaxed. The wound already looked better, the bleeding had completely stopped, and where the hole was there was now a really gross, red-coloured, slimy, sort of flesh. She wrinkled her face at the sight but it was good news it mean the dart gun had done its job.

"Rose?" Mickey asked again. "Did it work?"

"Yeah, think so." she said, looking around and fastening Owen securely into the stretcher, careful avoid placing the seat belt over the open wound.

"Thank God for that." Mickey replied, clearly relieved.

The ambulance made a sharp turn, causing Rose and Owen to bounce around. She carefully sat down on a fold out seat opposite the stretcher. "Where're we goin'?" she asked.

"Home."

"Home!"

"Look, Jack said they're serious so they've probably got choppers in the sky, sleeper agents, super-secret surveillance, and all that." He looked up into the night sky, as if he was about to duck out of the way of a helicopter any second. "It's only a matter of time before they find out where we live. They knew about Torchwood and the hub, who's to say they already know where we live."

"Yeah, you're right."

After a few moments Rose allowed herself to relax on the chair. Her nerves were wreaked. The whole compartment stunk of old copper pennies from the blood that had pooled on the floor. It had mixed with the soot and dust that they had brought in from the explosion, turning it a dirty brownish colour. She looked at her clothes, she was covered in it too.

God her mum was going to have a fit.

She studied Owen. If he was anything like Gwen he'd be out cold for a while. It was so lucky that her and Mickey weren't injured, otherwise all three of them would be dead.

Her shoulders slumped, she was utterly exhausted, but there was still more to be done.

What a day.

* * *

_The Frobisher Home - Kent_

John Frobisher had just had the one of the worse days in the history or worse days, keeping the 456 secret from the Doctor, UNIT, the UN, and trying to handle Torchwood, and here is wife was giving him daggers for something so minuscule as a late night phone call.

If only she knew the pressure he was under.

"Hello?" he said, answering the phone, keeping his voice low so his family wouldn't be able to hear as he slowly headed into the hallway.

" _Target one's eliminated. The others have escaped, but we're in pursuit._ " a cold female voice on the other line answered; agent Johnson.

"All of them." John hissed. "What went wrong?"

" _They found out about the explosive somehow, they had some sort of device that could disable our weaponry._ " the woman replied, almost apologetically, before her voice returned to it's usual harshness. " _They got lucky but they won't get far._ " she assured.

But John was far from satisfied. Torchwood had gotten away and, assuming the worst case scenario - that they knew about the 456 - if a single one of them made it to UNIT, made it to the press. That would be it.

The Prime Minister trusted him to handle this and he would've failed.

"What about the Rose woman Harkness was so fond of? Any idea who she is?" John demanded, pacing the hallway like an animal in a small cage.

" _We've run a search on the name with the still from CCTV from the hospital, facial recognition scans, NHS records, arrests, the lot. The only possible link we found was a request for information dated 11_ _th_ _of July 2007 for a Miss Rose Marion Tyler. Other than that nothing, no P45, no birth certificate, no national insurance number._ "

"Nothing?!" Frobisher glanced towards the kitchen doorway, his wife continued to stare daggers at him, as she ushered their daughters upstairs. "How can there be nothing?" he said, after they disappeared up the stairs.

" _Tech says someone's wiped her record._ "

"Harkness?"

" _Well, who else is there?_ "

Frobisher paced more, glancing up the stairs for any sign his wife might be lingering. "Well what about the request itself? Who sent it? "

There was a hesitation on the other line, causing Frobisher to listen more intently. " _Harriet Jones, you know, The former Prime Minister."_

Frobisher was surprised by the name but that quickly morphed into anger, another thing he had to deal with. "Yes." he snapped. "I know who she is!"

" _Do you want us to bring her in_?"

"No, no." Frobisher pinched the bridge of his nose. "She's still got connections, we can't risk it. I'll go over there myself, she'll talk to me. But for God's sake I want Torchwood gone by the time I get back!"

Frobisher didn't give Johnson a chance to reply and practically flung the mobile across the room. Harriet Jones lived in the middle of nowhere, about five hours drive away at best. He'd have to leave now to make it back to the office for the start of the day. It seemed not even sleep was allowed until this thing was sorted.

And worse of all he'd have to face Harriet Jones, and while she seem like everyone's favourite gran to most people, when it came to her being your boss she was far more scary than Green.

And that was saying something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Last minute family getaways are always stressful 
> 
> When: ...well here's the thing. Do you ever get it where you write something, you spend ages on it and after you finish you think; yeah, this is hot stuff. Then, when you re-visit it later, you're like what the hell was I on when I wrote this? Well that's me with the next chapter so I need like a good five days to re-write the whole thing.


	10. Day Two, Chapter Three - Last Minute Family Getaways are Always Stressful

_Penybryn Road - Cardiff_

The ambulance tumbled and swerved. Rose was sure to keep a close eye on Owen as she messily re-stuffed his rucksack with the things she had spilt on the floor in her panic earlier. The last time they had used the dart gun Gwen was out for hours, but her injuries weren't as bad as this. His wound was looking better but if they did need to treat him it was important that they had as much medical equipment as possible.

"I'm going to park it here." called Mickey as the ambulance came to a gradual stop. "They probably put a tracer on the ambulance." He started to undo his seatbelt. "We can carry him through the alley a few doors down."

"Yeah." agreed Rose as she swiftly started to unbuckle Owen from the stretcher, slinging his rucksack over her shoulder. She could hear the bang of the driver's door as Mickey raced around to the back compartment.

"Wot you doin'?" Mickey asked, looking at Rose.

"Well, we can't just leave it outside the house. They'll know straight away."

Mickey considered. She was right, and he wasn't sure himself how to operate the lift of the ambulance to get the stretcher down to ground level. And anyway at this time of night being quiet kept the neighbours tucked up in bed and not giving viable witness statements the next day. And if Holby City was anything to go by those things could rattle like a supermarket trolley.

Mickey nodded and moved into the ambulance to help her. He grabbed just under Owen's knees while Rose wrapped her arms under his armpits. Owen was heavy, _very_ heavy, they both grunted and groaned as they manoeuvred him out of the ambulance and towards the alley.

The street was still, not a person in sight. Mickey could see a few flickers of blue glow coming from some of the windows of the red-brick, Victorian, terrace, houses and hoped they were too glued to the telly to look outside.

They made slow progress towards the narrow alleyway, wooden fences of the next street's back garden's lining either side. They had to readjust their grip on him every couple of steps.

God he was heavy.

Mickey looked over at Rose, studying her briefly, her face looked overwrought as she adjusted her grip on Owen for the sixth time and looked cautiously behind him to check if anyone was approaching the abandoned ambulance.

"Y'know." Mickey began lightly, in an attempt to distract her. "Bit like Christmas, init?"

It was true after all, him and Rose carrying an unconscious 'Doctor' back to their house, probable aliens targeting them, some sort of mind control occurring. Next thing they'd be a killer beach ball after them.

Rose was a bit startled by the sudden comment, but she thought about it anyway. "Well, there's no massive, great, big, space ship overhead, so it's not exactly the same is it?" She retorted, focusing more on keeping a grip on Owen.

Mickey brightened. "Yeah, well we'll wait and see, still early yet." He said playfully.

"Yeah, that'd be just our luck, wouldn't it?"

Mickey chuckled in reply but stopped. His face fell as a thought hit him. Rose stopped too and looked at him, clear fear on her face.

"Wot?"

Mickey sighed in defeat. "I'm going to have to change his clothes aren't I?" 

Rose grinned cheekily and continued moving towards the end of the alley. "Well, if you two are ready for that." she joked.

"Har, har." Mickey said flatly, continuing onwards. "You're just saying that because you regret it wasn't you last time."

"Shut up." Rose said instantly.

* * *

_Marshfield – Cardiff_

Tosh drove the SUV down an old, worn road and into a small, overgrown car park, hidden away from everything. The gravel crunched and cracked under the strain of the bulky tyres.

Ianto and Tosh paused a moment as they both allowed themselves time to process the whole situation. They had just lost their job, contact with their family, and, possibly, they had lost their friends too. Even if it was just a brief second.

Ianto shook himself out of it. He needed to focus on finding Jack and helping the others. He started fiddling with the car radio, it crackled and let out a high pitched cry as he searched the different channels. They soon started to hear muffled voices, growing clearer as he found the right frequency.

Both of them began listening intently.

" _This is Alpha – Romeo- One, come in Bank – Romeo – Three, over._ "

" _This is Bank – Romeo – Three reporting in, over."_

" _Return to base, over."_

There was a brief silence on the other line

" _But, we're still collecting witness statements, over."_

" _Understood, Romeo – Three, but all units attending the explosion are to stand down, the anti-terrorist unit from London will be taking over the investigation, over."_

There was another pause on the line.

" _Not Torchwood? This seems like more their thing… over."_

Tosh and Ianto leaned closer to the radio. They listened as the conversation between the two police officers begun to lose its professionalism and shifted to a more causal chat.

" _No … the words come down that the explosion_ _ **was**_ _Torchwood, it was their base."_

" _Shit. Any idea what happened?"_

" _Get this, that anti – terrorist unit from London said that Torchwood was responsible, that they blew up their own base."_

" _WHAT!"_ Tosh, Ianto, and the other officer all cried at the same time.

" _It's true. Came right from the top. UNIT's even sending a… well, a unit down to investigate."_

Tosh scrunched her face up in confusion. "But, how could they make that assumption straight aw-"

"Shhh!" Ianto hissed, turning up the volume.

" – _ay. So Torchwood all survived then?"_

" _Yeah, I heard them say so."_

Both of them let out a breath as the tension in their bodies relaxed.

Their friends were alive.

They were alive.

" – _well, Harkness is down. He's the only one they haven't ordered a raid for. They even nabbed Davidson to take them to Gwen's house."_

Ianto froze, his emotions churning from happiness back to grief. Jack said he would come back… but that level of destruction. This was different to a shot in the back of the head. But then again, it was Jack. Ianto just didn't know what to think.

Tosh looked sadly over to Ianto, studying him, unsure of what to say. It was obvious to her that Jack wouldn't make it the second they couldn't cut the bomb out, but Ianto seemed to have held on some hope that he would. He looked devastated. "Ianto I'm sorry." she said softly.

Ianto acted like he hadn't heard her, after a few seconds he hastily turned the radio off.

"The officer said they were taking Davidson to Gwen's house, we should warn her." he said forcibly. From the way he avoided looking at Tosh, and focused solely on the radio, it was obvious he didn't want the subject pressed any further.

"Ianto…" Tosh asked softly.

"Gwen and the others, they would've chucked their mobiles but we can use the car to call them. They already know where Gwen lives we should call her first."

Tosh looked at him for a second, studying his poorly hidden expression while he continued to tweak the controls. She wanted to press him, to talk it through with him. But he was right and for now their focus was keeping the team out of harm's way.

"Yes, you need to feed the call through the mobile network and not the radio frequency." said Tosh, correcting Ianto's input.

The dial ring of a phone came through the car speakers.

_Bring, bring._

_Bring, bring._

"Come on Gwen, pick up, pick up." pleaded Tosh.

"How far away are the police?" asked Ianto.

Tosh looked at him, shaking her head slightly throwing her arms up. "I don't know, all our servers are – _were_ \- in house, I've lost complete access to the police network, to _all_ intelligence networks, that's why I asked you to re-tune the police radio, why I had to loop the CCTV before I left the hub."

Ianto opened his mouth to say something but there was a click on the other line.

" _Hello?_ "

Tosh and Ianto looked at each other, panic in their eyes. It was Rhys, not Gwen. Had she not made it back to the flat? Had something happened?

"Rhys? Where's Gwen." Ianto asked seriously.

* * *

_Penybryn Road - Cardiff_

The first thing Rose saw when she and Mickey rounded the corner of the alley was a flash of pink hurdling towards her. Her mum was rushing towards them, dressed in a fluffy pink dressing gown and slippers which scuffed on the floor with each step.

"Rose! Mickey! O' my God wot happened to you!" said Jackie, arms gesturing wildly up and down the pair of them. "O' my God is 'at blood." she shrieked, close to tears, while she looked in horror at the three.

"It's okay we're fine mum."

"Fine!" Jackie shrieked, not believing Rose in the slightest. "Just look at the state of ya!"

Rose knew this would be difficult. Her and Mickey's clothes were torn and dirty, and, most scarily for her mum, covered in blood, Owen was practically drenched. The black soot and dust stained their faces. But despite how she and Mickey looked, they felt fine, really they did, no aches or bruises. She, herself, had no sluggish feeling in her legs, even the jab on her neck felt fine. Her and Mickey had been lucky, unlike Owen. But she just needed to convince her mum that.

Jackie looked at Owen. "And look at 'im, 'e's dead already." Jackie's mind caught up with her words. "O' my God is 'e dead." she said, hysterical, putting her hands over her mouth.

Mickey hushed Jackie. "Look we're okay, alright and 'e's not dead, so calm down, yeah? You're gonna wake the whole street up."

Jackie made an attempt to steady her breath and calm herself, her face teary. She gazed at Owen and the wound on his leg. "Is that 'im? 'As he changed 'is face again?"

"Jacks you okay?" said Pete, who had rushed out earlier from a posh looking terrace house a bit further down from the entrance of the alley. He inspected the group for a few seconds but said nothing, only tiredly sighed and put a comforting arm around Jackie and looked to Rose to explain. Although, he was pretty sure he knew what she was going to say.

Rose looked a bit puzzled for a moment, expecting Pete to say something but when it was clear that all eyes were now on her she spoke quickly, worried about the time. She focused on her mum first. "No, he's not _the_ Doctor, he's _a_ doctor and he's hurt, it's not safe here you need to grab Tony," Rose looked at Pete. "Grab the emergency rucksack, we need to leave." Rose saw her mum's face fall. "I'm sorry, but we 'ave to."

"Now?" Jackie asked sorrowfully, glancing between Rose, Mickey, and Pete. It was not the first time she'd had to uproot everything and start over. Pete gave her a sympathetic glance and tightened his grip on her. Rose and Mickey looked at her pitifully for a few seconds before Rose nodded. "Yeah."

"But, I just got Tony's room done." she muttered, the heartbreak clear in her voice.

"I know, and I'm sorry." Rose said, genuinely. "But it's not for ever. Just until we sort this out, yeah?"

She looked between Pete and the sorry state that was her daughter and Mickey and the poor bloke who looked a few seconds away from resting in peace permanently. "Yeah okay." Jackie said in defeat, nodding sadly. "I'll get Tony then." she said, before turning back towards the house.

Pete watched Jackie head towards the house. "I'll give you a hand first." he said, pulling car keys out of his pocket and pressing the button. A silver people carrier type car parked further down the street bleeped and the locks shifted, the kind of car with the sliding backdoors and two extra foldaway seats in the boot. "We'll slide him in the back." Pete moved to grab Owen's middle and the three of them carried Owen towards the car.

With the extra help it only took a few seconds for them to reach the back doors of the people carrier. "Rose, pull him in from the other side." said Pete.

Rose nodded and rushed around the car while Mickey and Pete took all of Owen's weight. She opened up the sliding back door, climbed through the row of seats and then slid open the other door in front of her while Mickey and Pete looked out for any sign of pursuers. She then grabbed hold Owen and pulled him through at the same time Pete and Mickey pushed. It only took several seconds in reality, but felt far too long for the three of them.

Once they had pushed and pulled him all the way in, the three soon realised that Owen's body was too tall for the car. He was bent at an angle, his head so dangerously close to the door that one sharp turn would snap his neck, his wounded leg resting on the floor of the car while his other was bent against the back of the seat.

"Right." said Pete, assessing the problem, trying to keep as calm as possible. "Rose stay here, keep look out. Mickey, get some pillows from the house to prop him up. I'll get the emergency rucksack."

Mickey and Rose nodded, and Pete and Mickey turned and sprinted towards the house. Meanwhile, Rose hastily strapped the middle seat belt around Owen's waist as a precaution and tried to make him comfortable. She took off his rucksack from her shoulders and placed it on the floor of the car by his head. She moved to the driver's side - so she could beep the horn as a warning - and looked impatiently at the house, bouncing slightly on the spot. They had already been at the house too long.

"Come on, come on." she muttered to herself.

* * *

_Marshfield – Cardiff_

Ianto and Tosh quickly realised Gwen was there with him when they heard her angrily yell at Rhys for picking up the phone. " _Jesus Christ, Rhys_."

" _It's Ianto, alright."_ Rhys assured.

" _Christ sake, man!"_ Gwen hissed in return.

Tosh and Ianto glanced at each other in relief as they heard the rattling of the phone changing hands.

" _Ianto, are you okay?"_

"Yeah, me and Tosh." said Ianto.

"Gwen, they're coming for you." Tosh warned.

" _I know, we're getting out now_."

"Have you heard from the others?"

" _No. No I haven't._ " There was some further rattling on Gwen's line. " _Sorry hang, on._ "

Ianto waited, he wanted to know if Gwen had heard from Jack but he wasn't sure if she knew about his 'condition' as Jack called it, or not. He had to phase this carefully. "Gwen," he began seriously. "What about Jack?"

There was a pause on the other line.

" _No, Do you think he survived_?"

Gwen knew, her pause made it obvious. Tosh looked at Ianto in confusion but Ianto didn't elaborate. "He usually does _."_ he replied to Gwen.

" _Yeah."_ replied Gwen, solemnly.

"Gwen." asked Tosh. "You got out first, do you have any idea who might be behind this?"

" _I don't know, there were these people from London waiting for us. They said they were police but that was bullocks_."

"From London?" Tosh asked, looking back at Ianto. He was looking at her knowingly, having reached the same conclusion.

" _Yeah, it was defiantly a London accent, like Mickey and Owen_." Gwen replied speedily.

"The government sent an anti-terrorist unit to Cardiff. According to intel, they're already at the scene." said Tosh

There was muffled chatter on the other line as Gwen said something to Rhys about meeting him in the car. " _But I'm telling you they were waiting for it, they knew it was going to happen._ "

"So then it's the government." stated Ianto. "They're the ones after us."

" _But we're on the same side_." A car horn sounded through the speakers and Gwen's pace quickened. " _Er, where should we meet, Ianto, Tosh?"_

"Your phone, your phone could be bugged _."_ said Tosh

" _Err, right… err._ " Gwen said, frantically searching her brain. " _Ianto, remember the last time we had ice-cream together?_ "

Tosh looked at Ianto expectantly.

"No."

" _Yeah you do_." Gwen was getting increasingly panicked. " _After the Grand Slam?_ "

But Ianto was pretty sure they had never eaten ice-cream together. "I don't like ice-cream. It gives me a headache."

"It's a code Ianto, think what it could mean." Tosh pleaded, but Ianto, as much as he searched his brain he couldn't work it out.

The car horn increased in frequency, through the phone. " _I've got to go._ "

"Gwen?! Gwen!?"

The line went dead.

* * *

_Penybryn Road - Cardiff_

Much to Rose's relief, Mickey and Pete emerged mere minutes after they entered the house.

Mickey was carrying some pillows and hurriedly opened the sliding door closest to Owen's head, quickly stuffed them between Owen and the car door, propping Owen's head up near the window and swiftly pulled the sliding door shut so the pillows wouldn't tumble out of the car and onto the ground. That would have to do for now.

Meanwhile, Pete ran around to the driver's side, slung the rucksack on the front passenger seat and was about to in the car when he noticed two people were missing. "Where's Jacks?" he asked.

Rose frustratingly motioned towards the house.

"She's still inside?! What's she doing in there?" Pete asked.

"Maybe she's trying to cook that chicken in the fridge." Mickey joked, although everyone else around the car was far too agitated to laugh.

Pete beeped the horn. "Jackie!" he called.

Another few tense seconds passed. "Right that's it." Rose said angrily, sprinting towards the house.

After a much longer time than planned, Jackie Tyler was ushered out the house by a very agitated Rose, her hands full of plastic bags filled to the brim with things that _defiantly_ weren't essential. Rose was carrying a disgruntled and grumpy Tony on her hip as she slammed the door shut behind her.

"Mum." said Rose, completely fuming, hastily marching alongside Jackie towards the car. "When I say we need to go I mean we need to GO. I said get Tony not cans of beans."

"Jackie, where've you been?" Pete said exhaustively, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Alright, alright, I'm 'ere now aren't I? And anyway, we need to eat don't we?" Jackie protested.

Mickey rolled his eyes and rushed up and grabbed the bags off Jackie. He looked into the bag and saw a large, glass, scented candle on the top of a gossip mag. He sighed and rolled his eyes, but no one noticed him as he flung the bags into the boot of the car.

Rose let out a frustrated cry. "Mum, we don't need food, we'll just buy some." Rose saw Mickey loading the bags. "Mickey just leave it." Rose protested, Tony wailing in her ear as the young baby sensed the frustrated from the adults around him. Every passing second increased the tension, shortening everyone's temper. 

"No don't leave it!" Jackie argued. "It's got Tony's things in there."

"Well it's half way in the car now." Mickey replied to Rose at the same time as Jackie spoke, squishing the overfilled bags into the boot of the car. "And I don't think Tony needs a copy of heat magazine."

Rose was flabbergasted. "Mum! We're going on the run 'ere. Do you want them to catch us?" she yelled over Tony's cries.

"Well I was in a rush." Jackie protested. "And don't use that tone wi-"

"Oh my God we're going!" Pete roared, silencing them all, even Tony.

Pete took a breath, calming himself. He climbed in the back and started the car without another word. The others looked at each other for a brief second and scrambled into the car.

Jackie climbed into the front seat with Tony on her lap. Pete looked in the rear-view mirror and saw Rose and Mickey awkwardly close the open sliding door and climb over Owen to reach the two rear seats. "Lucky this wasn't on the other world or we'd all be dead." he mumbled to himself.

At last they were _finally_ ready to leave, so, with a sigh of relief from Pete, and one last look at the house, the Tyler family drove away into the night. 

* * *

_Marshfield – Cardiff_

Ianto and Tosh had tried everyone else's landline but gotten nowhere.

They were running out of options.

Ianto let out an exhausted sigh and slumped into the seat. "What are we going to do now? We have no way of finding out where they are."

Tosh fell back on her own seat and puffed air out her cheeks, staring out into the darkness. "If we re-established a connection with the databases I could use my tracking programmes to find them." she said completely void of hope.

Ianto noted the despondence in her voice. "And that's not easy I take it?"

Tosh turned her head to look Ianto straight in the eye. "No." she said bluntly. "Some might say impossible."

"Why not?" Ianto dared ask.

Tosh turned her head back so she was looking out the windscreen. Her voice sounded defeated as she explained. "All my programmes rely on outside information to work. The Police National Database, for example, INTERPOL Criminal Information System, Cadiff City council, they are all outside networks which my programmes use to filter through information. The servers we had in the hub allowed for continuous access to all those outside networks as well of hundreds others. When the hub exploded so did the servers, it completely cut off the access. I uploaded all my search programmes to the SUV, they work fine but they can't access the databases they need to complete the search."

Ianto thought a moment. "But can't you just hack in to the networks? Re-establish the access."

"Yes, but we don't have the time. We're talking about hundreds of networks, it'd take me weeks."

Ianto looked out into the car park. The SUV was quiet for a long time, Ianto trying to will himself to think of a solution.

"Don't the police or MI5 have access to the same networks, couldn't we just hack into their network and use their servers?"

Tosh didn't lift her head of the headrest and tiredly turned to face Ianto. "The police only have access to their own database, anything else requires special permissions, and MI5 don't keep track of extra-terrestrial activity."

Ianto raised his eyebrows as a light bulb appeared above his head. "What about UNIT?"

Tosh looked at him like he'd just turned purple.

"They're meant to know a bit about aliens, and didn't Jack try to call them earlier? I bet they'll have access to the same sort of networks and databases we do." Ianto explained.

"Break into UNIT?" Tosh said incredulously. "Do you know what they'll do to us if they catch us?" Her eyes flashed with pain as she remembered her time imprisoned at a UNIT facility. "They think we're terrorists."

"The others would go. Jack would want us to try and stop this." Ianto said calmly. "It might be the only way to find them."

Tosh thought about it. Last time she'd been caught and now they didn't have Jack to get them out if something went wrong. But Ianto was right and she'd be damned if her let her friends experience the same fate she did.

"Okay," she sighed. "But before we decide to do this, you need to understand how much of a risk we're taking, how dangerous it's going to be. We'd have to break in to their central terminal, their main base. I'd say it's impossible if I hadn't already done it before. And even if we make it out, if we don't clear this up then they'll find us eventually and then they'll lock us up and throw away the key. All your friends and family, you'll never be able to speak to them again."

Ianto nodded. "I understand and the answers still yes."

"You're sure, there's no turning back."

"Yes, absolutely."

Tosh let out a long breath and started the car. "Okay, then. Next stop, the Tower of London." Ianto shot her a confused glare. "UNIT's UK headquarters." she elaborated. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Rises like Mushu from Mulan* I live  
> Sorry it's been a bit more that five days. This chapter was difficult to edit. I just couldn't get it to flow.
> 
> Next Chapter: The Defenders of Earth
> 
> When: um... four days to a week?


	11. Day Two, Chapter Four - Defenders of the Earth

_M6 Northbound_

Frobisher slammed his car horn violently as the car at the front failed to recognise the change in lights. He had no time for this! Harriet Jones lived miles away in the back and beyond, in bloody Lancashire for Christ's sake; a four hour drive away. He'd be lucky if he got any sort of sleep at all.

By the time he pulled up onto Harriet Jones' street it was in the early hours of the morning. The road was barely a road at all; there were no street lights of any kind or houses for that matter - that he could see in the pitch black anyway. He had to strain his eyes, trying to search the overgrown foliage on either side of the country lane for the sign leading to Harriet's cottage. He drove slowly as he did so, only to find it hidden behind some leaves and brambles. He moved his car onto the gravel path; leading to her cottage, unable to quell the feeling of impending doom in his stomach. 

Harriet's house was old and traditional, like some sort of fairy tale cottage. The front light came on as he approached, which he was grateful for as the ground was uneven and he didn't want to drop his brief case he was carrying or he'd never find it. He knocked forcibly on the old fashioned, iron, knocker until he saw a light turn on from one of the upper rooms.

John observed the light travelling to different windows as he ran through in his head what he was going to say to her one last time. When Harriet – he hoped - reached the front door John could hear the heavy clucking of numerous metal locks sliding to one side. She always was security conscious. The door opened a crack and Harriet hesitantly peered around it. Surprisingly, she wasn't dressed in any sort of nightwear, but in jeans, top and cardigan, her hair in a messy bun. It looked as if she'd been up all night.

"Harriet… Mam."

"John?" she said, looking him up and down cautiously. "Well this is a surprise."

"I'm sorry to intrude at such a late hour, but I have something, let's say, rather urgent I would like to discuss with you." he explained.

"I see." Harriet said flatly, surveying him with her eyes once more. "Well, I suppose you better come in." She said after a few moments thought, opening the front door and fully and standing aside, welcoming him in.

* * *

_Membury Services Eastbound - Lambourn_

Rose was impatiently glancing between her family in the car and the surrounding area, bouncing on her heels slightly. The speaker of the pay phone pressed firmly against her ear.

The ringing tone played again and she ran a hand nervously through her hair.

Pick up, pick up.

Her family were tired, hungry, and had no change of clothes. Owen was knocked out cold and would be for a while. They couldn't book into a hotel without drawing attention to themselves, and there was no way the six of them could live in the car. They needed somewhere to go, somewhere her family would be safe.

The phone clicked.

"Sarah – Jane, it's me."

" _Rose! Mr Smith told me about the explosion. What happened?! Are you alright?"_

Rose was close to tears, relieved she had someone to turn to. "…I don't know," she answered honestly, the distress clear in her voice. Now that she was actually saying what happened it was like it finally seemed real. "Me and Mickey got out but Owen." She stopped herself to recover before continuing, her mind filling with what had happened. "…but Owen got hurt… he'll be okay… but we don't know about the others… and Jack.." Her voice was close to breaking, she took in a deep breath to calm herself but when she breathed out it came out ragged. Jack had looked so scared, and they left him all alone. "It was Jack, the explosion, they planted somemin inside of him…. and we don't know…. we don't know, if he'll come back."

Sarah – Jane didn't reply straight away as she took in what Rose has said. " _Someone's after you?_ " she asked, in a clear attempt to refocus her.

It seemed to work as Rose's voice sounded less upset and sturdier. "Yeah, but we don't know who they are."

" _What about your family? If they're after you they'll come after them. Have you warned them?"_

"Yeah, sorry, they're here with me and Mickey, they're okay." She paused, hesitant whether she should ask or not. "…But, we 'ave nowhere to go."`

Sarah – Jane replied in an instant, her voice filled with resolve. " _Rose listen to me, you bring your family straight here, you hear me_?"

Rose nodded energetically, eyes tearing, before she remembered that it was a phone call and not a face to face chat. "Yeah." she said meekly, grateful.

" _We can use Mr Smith to find out who's after you and run searches on the others once you get here. But for now just focus on getting here_."

"We will… and thanks, yeah? I know this is a risk for you."

" _Don't be silly."_ Sarah – Jane said light-heartedly. _"We deal with alien threats just as much as Torchwood,_ _ **and**_ _we do it without_ _ **guns**_ _. And besides us companions of the Doctor, us defenders of the Earth, we have to stick together."_ Rose couldn't help a smile spread across her face despite how she was feeling. Sarah – Jane's voice then became more sombre. " _You'd do the same for me_."

"Yeah, course I would." Rose said without hesitation.

Sarah – Jane returned to her light tone. " _Right, well see you soon, oh"_ Her voice sharpened. _"And tell Owen to watch himself. I don't want any of his bad manners rubbing off on my son."_

Rose smiled. "Yeah, I don't think that'll be a problem." she said, looking over to the car where Owen was still knocked out cold. "See you soon."

Rose put the phone down and gave an approving nod to the others waiting in the car. She saw all the tension in them melt away now that they knew they had somewhere safe to stay.

"Right she said we can stay." she told her family as she climbed back over Owen into the rear seat of the car. "Ealing, 13 Bannerman Road." she told Pete.

"Right." he said as he put turned the key in the ignition and pulled away from the petrol station.

She let Mickey answer all of her mum's questions about how Sarah – Jane and Luke were doing. Now that her family were safe and she had said out loud what had happened she needed time to think about the whole situation they were in. Not just the hub blowing up, no, in a way that had just brought everything to the surface again; her finding Jack, reaching out to Sarah – Jane, working for Torchwood, returning to her home universe, the Doctor, everything.

She still had no clue as to how they got back, and honestly she still wasn't sure it was the Doctor who'd done it. Mickey seemed to be convinced and although she didn't say it at first, Rose could tell Sarah – Jane thought the same. They'd all appeared on a council estate in … Margate, with no money and no belongings, a very Doctor thing to do. And besides who else in the universe could pull off a trick like that?

In the beginning, Rose had refused to believe it, that he'd go without a word, that he'd just leave her behind. After a while, Sarah – Jane sat her down and told her that she didn't want her to make the same mistake she did, wasting a good chunk of her life waiting for the Doctor to come back. She'd been dropped off and he'd moved on. And she had to let herself accept that or otherwise _she_ wouldn't be able to move on. That the best thing to do was to learn from all the wonders the Doctor had shown her, all the things he'd taught her and make it worth it, make a difference.

She understood what Sarah – Jane was saying, she did. She always knew she'd be left behind eventually and she accepted it. She'd knew it'd hurt but as Sarah – Jane said; some things are worth getting your heart broken for, and she was prepared to make the most of the time she had on the Tardis. But something just felt off about the whole thing, it just didn't ring true. When he'd last spoken to her he told her that he couldn't come through and she _knew_ he was telling the truth then. So if it was him, then, How? Why?

She travelled to Cardiff just on the off chance he might be refuelling, so she could ask him herself and put the whole thing to rest. But then she found Jack and started to think maybe this was her 'Aberdeen' after all. And perhaps this version of the Doctor just did that, leaving without saying a word. It wouldn't be the first time it'd happened; to her, or, to Jack.

But even with all the evidence, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't bring herself to let him go. She needed to hear it from him – whatever _it_ was - and that meant waiting for him. Jack understood of course, he'd been waiting much, much, longer. So, she took a bit of everyone's advice and joined Torchwood III. She wouldn't stop living her life, having fun, being with her family, making friends, defending the Earth, but she wouldn't give up on the Doctor either.

Did he think about her? Did he mention her to his new companions? Did he miss her? How was he? Had he regenerated since she saw him last? Did he know she was back?

She hoped one day she would be able to find out the answers to those questions. But for now she had a job to do so she laid her head on the headrest and tried to get a few hours' sleep before they reached Sarah – Jane's house.

* * *

_Flydale North – Harriet's Cottage_

Harriet led Frobisher through to her living room. The wall was painted white but the exposed wooden support beams made it look homely. The traditional fireplace, art supplies and fabrics covering the comfy sofas further added to the atmosphere. It reminded John of the farmhouse him and his wife stayed in during their country retreat – beautifully cluttered, his wife had called it.

"Take a seat." Harriet said, gesturing to one of the sofas.

"Thank you." John replied awkwardly, as he took a sat down, only for the sofa to nearly swallow him. He shuffled to the edge; where it was firmer.

"Can I get you anything? Tea Coffee?" she asked, still standing but prepped to move back the way she came.

John looked up at her. In reality he was gasping for a triple espresso mixed with half a bottle of scotch, no sod that two bottles of vodka would actually be better. But time was of the essence so it would have to wait.

"I'm fine, thank you."

"Are you sure? You must've come a long way?" said Harriet, gesturing her head to the kitchen.

"Yes, I'm on a rather tight schedule I'm afraid so I'll have to decline."

"Of course," said Harriet, conceding and moving to an armchair opposite John. "It must be mad down there."

John raised his eyebrows at the comment. "To say the least."

"So," started Harriet, her tone shifting. "Am I to assume this is about the children?"

"We think there may be a connection." said John, choosing his words carefully.

He used to work for Harriet. He knew just how intelligent she could be. He couldn't give away any information. Unlike Green, Harriet never asked about the polls or ratings, she actually cared about her policies and always wanted to make sure everyone was doing their job properly. If there was an issue she wanted it addressed straight away and she wanted the public to know exactly what the government was doing to help them.

John was sure, that if she even sniffed anything was awry then she would let UNIT know straight away. He glanced over to her. She was listening intently with a slight confused look on her face. Her friendly grandmother persona replaced with the stern stature of an ex-Prime Minister.

He couldn't mess this up.

John elaborated. "I'm sure you're aware of the explosion that occurred in Cardiff last night."

"I am." replied Harriet. "And since you're mentioning it I take it _was_ Torchwood that was targeted?"

Frobisher nodded to confirm before continuing. "At this moment we can't say for sure. But Torchwood was destroyed-,

"God."

"-and given the timings with current events the evidence certainly suggests a connection."

John paused to give time of Harriet to absorb the information, or to ask questions, but she was keenly listening for him to continue.

"Naturally, we retraced Torchwood's last steps for any clues and we identified a person of interest." he continued. "She was spotted with Harkness but is not a registered member of Torchwood. We tried to trace her using facial tracking software but the only thing we found was a request for information made by you." Harriet braced herself like she was about to be told bad news. "for a Miss Rose Marion Tyler."

Harriet looked like she had seen a ghost. She was quiet for several seconds, clearly in some sort of shock.

"I'm afraid that's not possible."

John had no idea what to say to that, it clearly was possible.

Harriet couldn't believe it. Her mind raced. Rose? She was alive? And she was with Torchwood? She'd been trying to work out the cause of the explosion but her contact at UNIT had told her that the CCTV had been wiped and he said nothing about a person of interest nor anyone who even remotely sounded like Rose Tyler. And then there was the Doctor, he was at UNIT why wasn't he down there? Even if they'd parted ways surely he would be concerned about her well-being?

Unless…

Harriet's voice turned harsh and demanding. "What makes you so sure Rose Tyler is the person of interest spotted with Harkness?"

John looked at her sheepishly, he always did seem to be walking on egg shells when he spoke to people. He pulled out a brown, card, file from the briefcase in his hand and stretched his arm over to hand it to her. "When we were re-tracing Harkness's steps she was spotted with him on CCTV, investigating something at St Helen's hospital, we're not sure what at this moment in time."

Harriet glanced suspiciously at John for a split second and took the file. John didn't mention the CCTV being wiped, and his team had retraced their movements extremely quickly for an explosion that occurred only four hours ago.

In fact for him to get here so quickly his team must've retraced Torchwood's steps very quickly indeed.

She opened the file and sure enough there was Rose Tyler standing next to Captain Jack Harkness in the hospital reception. It was hard to tell if Rose was older than when she had last seen her. Her hair looked different, she was growing it out, and it hadn't been like that on the footage from Canary Wharf; the last known sighting, or any other known sighting for that matter.

Harriet traced her hand over Rose's photo. "Oh Rose my precious thing." She looked at it for several seconds. She might only have known Rose and the Doctor for a short amount of time but they had changed her life, opened her eyes. And they were both absolutely extraordinary.

After a few seconds of silence John readjusted his position on the sofa, reminding Harriet of his presence. John was good at hiding his inner panic but Harriet knew his tells from working with him before, he was hiding something, she knew that much and she was going to find out what.

"So I take it you know her?" he asked nervously. "Any information you can provide will be appreciated."

Harriet looked up at John, she kept her expression neutral but even that seemed to startle him. He was on edge. "Sorry," said Harriet with a sweet smile, trying to avoid letting on that she suspected something. "Not quite the news I was expecting."

It seemed to work as John relaxed. "It's quite all right, this has been a surprising day for all of us, I'm sure." He nodded towards the photo. "So? Can you tell me more about her, if that's alright?"

Harriet thought. "Yes, of course. But before I do, I'd like you to know if you have spotted anyone else in the hospital, if you don't mind."

John looked a little puzzled and apprehensive but agreed nonetheless. "Yes, of course."

Harriet quickly got up and went into her office. She needed to know for sure if it was a version of Rose _before_ or _after_ the battle of Canary Wharf. She was with Harkness, but for all she knew it could be a _past_ version of Harkness, who was still travelling with the Doctor. There was one way to tell for certain; find out if the Doctor was there. If he was then this event had happened before Canary Wharf - for them. If he wasn't there it meant Rose had survived somehow. And if it _was_ a version of them from the past, it'd likely be the Doctor she met in Downing Street, since Harkness was with them. _Or_ it could be a version of the new Doctor and Rose who had been reunited with the _present_ version of Harkness, where Canary Wharf hadn't happened for the them but had for Harkness.

Gosh tracking the Doctor was so confusing.

She pulled out the Doctor's thick file that she'd been researching and rapidly flicked through the pages for a photo of him and Rose together.

First, the version of him when he wore the black leather jacket. She picked up a photo she'd bought off a photographer. They had called the piece 'lost.' It was Rose standing in the middle of a busy London street, watching the people walk past her like she couldn't believe they existed. The Doctor was next to her, arms folded and studying her with an intense gaze.

The second, a CCTV still from the Powell estate that'd been enhanced, the night she'd made the decision that cost her her career, one that she'd make again. It was the new Doctor, standing side by side with Rose looking up at the sky, snowflakes caught in both their hair, they were smiling, the Doctor looking at Rose with a tender expression.

She thought, if it _was_ a past version of Rose, that would explain why the present Doctor had stayed away in UNIT HQ, because he knew there was another version of him running about…

Or, of course, his past self wasn't there and he was at UNIT because he didn't know she was alive.

Harriet took the photos and hastily brought them back to John. She put the picture of the first Doctor she knew down on the coffee table in the middle of the room. "This man, has he been spotted anywhere near Miss Tyler or Harkness?" she asked.

John picked up the photo from the table and studied it intently. "No." he said confidently, before passing the photo back to Harriet. "Who is he, her father, boss? Could he tell us some more information?" he pressed.

Harriet ignored him and put the picture of the last Doctor she'd seen on the table. Again, John Frobisher picked up the photo and studied it. "No." he said. "Her boyfriend?" he asked, more cautiously this time. "Who are these men?"

Harriet watched John very carefully. "Are you sure?" she asked firmly. "It is of the upmost importance."

John looked at the picture for a second time, none of his tells were coming through. "No, I'm sorry but my team only saw Miss Tyler with Harkness on the day of the explosion."

Harriet nodded, accepting his answer. "Those men." she began, wanting to observe his reaction. "They're the Doctor."

John looked like she'd just handed him a death sentence, like he'd just had all the blood drained out of him, like he'd just seen his life flash before his eyes.

That was enough to make her realise what John was trying to hide. He was the one responsible for the explosion, he had to be. Any other government official would sigh a sigh of relief to know that the Doctor was here to sort out the threat. He looked so terrified, because, in a way, she really had told him something that horrific. Everyone high enough in the government knew, you never hurt the Doctor's companions.

And John Frobisher had hurt Rose Tyler.

Harriet sighed, she almost felt sorry for John. But she had a duty to defend the Earth and by damn she was going to fulfil it. Her contact at UNIT was in Cardiff and no one else would give her the time of day now that she wasn't even a backbencher anymore. So she would just have to go to London and tell the Doctor herself.

She just needed to find out why John would want Torchwood killed, since his target was obviously not Rose as he knew nothing about her.

She shook herself out of her thoughts, energised with her new found determination, only to find that John Frobisher had not moved a millimetre since she'd informed him.

"John?" she asked but it was no use.

Inside John Frobisher's mind was fizzing. Every memory he had ever had whizzed through his brain. Every whisper he'd ever heard, every secret document he'd ever peaked at. In every memory the message – no, the warning – was the same.

Whatever you do, don't harm the Doctor's companions.

He looked down at the photo of the two of them in the snow.

This woman was more than that.

"John?" Harriet asked more sharply. "JOHN!"

John snapped out of it and began frantically packing the photos away in his brief case. "Yes, sorry, I really must be going." His hands were almost trembling.

"John? Are you quite all right?"

"Yes, fine." He quickly stood up and paced towards the door, he tried in vain to seem less suspicious but the pure unimaginable dread flowing through him made it impossible for him to calm himself. He was surprised his legs were still functional considering how jellified they felt. "I'm just on a rather tight schedule you understand. And now it is imperative that I inform my team of this information." he stuttered out.

"Yes of course." she said after having to practically run to beat John to the door to see him out.

John turned to face her. "Thank you for your time… Mam." and gave a little bow and before Harriet could open her mouth to utter a "Yes, of course." he'd already made it to the car and sped away.

* * *

_Tower Hill – London_

"Well?" Ianto asked. "Are we close enough to access UNIT's wireless network."

Tosh hit a few keys on the keyboard of the SUV's backseat computer, the glow of the screen reflecting on her glasses. She gave a smirk. "Yes, well within range."

Ianto and Tosh had chosen the spot well, only five minutes from the Tower and close to a main road; for a quick getaway. It was early in the morning, the sun was just starting to come up. The streets were still quiet and the early starters were beginning to make their way to work. The car park they were in was practically empty and it was early enough that the porters hadn't started their shift.

"So you have access to their network?"

"Of course. UNIT might think their systems are unhackable but I've gotten a bit better at it since last time."

Ianto raised his eyebrows. "So that's it then? Job done. We can search for the others?"

Tosh looked at him over her glasses, with a 'really?' sort of expression.

"Of course not." sighed Ianto. "Because that would be too easy."

"Well technically, I could search them from here, but UNIT does have _some_ security measures. If we search using there system they'll know it's coming from outside the base and trigger the alarm."

"Ah, best not then." agreed Ianto. He thought for a moment. "So… we search from a UNIT computer inside the base? Find out where the others are?"

"That's one option. But doing that won't grant my programmes in the SUV access to the servers, and assuming that we want access to UNIT's networks after we leave this area then I'll need to upload a virus to UNIT's system."

"I take it you can't use any UNIT computer for that, then?"

"No, I need to upload in to the main terminal in their server room." Tosh suddenly stopped typing and turned to look at Ianto seriously. "Are you sure you want go through with this? This is our last chance to walk away."

Ianto nodded. "Just tell me what I need to do."

Tosh manoeuvred out of her seat so Ianto could slide in, it was difficult in the confined space of the back compartment of the SUV but they managed. "I've got access to the CCTV feed." said Tosh as Ianto studied the multiple tiny squares, each representing a camera. "You need to monitor them and tell me if anyone's coming in my general direction. And you need to move the cameras as I walk through the base so I don't show up on them. Use the arrow keys to do that." Tosh started to place an earpiece into one of her ears, getting ready for her mission.

Ianto looked fearfully at the screen there were so many cameras he could hardly make out anything. "Tosh I think that's going to be a problem."

Tosh leaned over and hit a few keys in quick succession. "Luckily, my infiltration programme has a network to connect with now."

The screen was transformed to a birds-eye map of the base, little red dots were scattered about the screen, Ianto assumed they represented the UNIT officers' location.

Ianto's eyes widened in awe. "It's like Marauder's Map from Harry Potter."

Tosh gave an approving grin. She started loading and checking her gun as she spoke. "It's a bit more scientific than magic. It tracks the officer's radios and tells us were they are." She slid her gun into it's holster. "It's not entirely accurate so you'll have to watch the CCTV. The programme will automatically track my location." Tosh then leaned over Ianto and unplugged a bulky pager like device. She held it up. "Using this." She pressed a button on the device and the map on the screen shrunk and a little black dot appeared in an area away from the outline of the tower. Tosh placed the device into her back jean pocket. "You'll need to direct me where to go. The sever room is highlighted in blue." She started rummaging around the seats of the SUV, searching for something. 

Ianto squinted his eyes at the screen and sure enough there was part of the map which was shaded blue, covering a large sized room near the centre of the map.

Tosh found what she was looking for and held up a plain white credit card with a flat colourful wire that looked a bit like a plastic chocolate bar wrapper attached to the side. At the end of the wire there was a plug of some sort which looked like a very thin SCAT plug, which Tosh slid into her other jean pocket. "It should display the CCTV cameras in my vicinity on the other monitor automatically." Tosh flicked a switch on the wall of the SUV and another computer monitor appeared close to the first one. "Make sure I'm not on the footage. They monitor the cameras constantly if I show up on them then that's it."

"Make sure you're not on the cameras, tell you where to go, don't send you towards any guards, got it."

"The server room isn't usually used so the guards monitoring the cameras won't notice a loop, but don't start the it until I'm just about to enter."

"Loop the CCTV in the server room, only when just about to go in." Ianto confirmed.

Tosh let out an obvious, nervous breath. Ianto looked in her direction and she gave him a weak smile. She was ready. "Right, wish me luck."

"Good luck, not that you'll need it."

Tosh nodded and opened the backdoor to the SUV. She walked across the car park, trying hard to bury the fear which grew with each step she took closer to the Tower. She couldn't help but note the irony. The Tower of London was most well known as a gruesome prison, something that, if she and Ianto were caught, they would most likely spend the rest of their lives in.

She took a deep breath and slipped through one of the smokers' doors that one of the officers had left open.

Time to get to work, she thought to herself. 

* * *

_Ealing - London_

When Owen first drifted back into consciousness, actually it was more like he was dragged kicking and screaming, his first thought was that he had died, and much to his dismay; the old, wrinkled, cold, degrading, witch, that he used to refer to as his mother was right and there really was a hell, and more terrifyingly, he really had been sent there.

When he lifted his head off the pillow he quickly came to the conclusion that he was in a car, blurry shapes were whizzing past the window and he could tell from the sky that it was pretty early in the morning. And from the houses he was pretty sure it was somewhere in London. His leg still hurt but it felt more like a bad bruise now, nothing compared to what it was.

Although, none of these things were the reason why Owen thought that he had been given a one way ticket to eternal damnation.

No, it was the sheer, Jeremy Kyle type chaos unfolding around him. He watched the scene in front of him, like he was watching a horrific car crash in slow motion. None of his torturers had seemed to notice he was awake, all too busy trying to deafen each other. The arguing was so loud that Owen took a while to distinguish the different voices from all the shouting.

To his left, a baby was screaming louder than a jackhammer, red faced and tear streaked. And bouncing it exhaustingly on their lap was a woman who looked straight out of footballers wives,' also screaming at the top of her lungs to someone behind her, gesturing wildly with her free hand. Next to her was the bloke driving, who was yelling over the arguing to someone else behind him, something about whether it was the next turning or not.

He looked to his right. On the rear to seats of the car Owen could see Smith, who was also yelling, face fully focused on a giant A to Z of London, his face contorted as he tried to make sense of the guide. Next to him Tyler was there, again, also shouting at the top of her lungs at the older woman in the front. She was furiously rummaging through some bags behind her, shrieking something about bringing too much.

It was hell. That or a terrible nightmare brought on by the alien medication.

Yeah, that was more likely, a nightmare. It had to be, because sod spending eternity listening to this.

Owen slumped his head back down on the pillows and forced his eyes shut. Maybe, if he tried really, really hard he could force himself into a deeper sleep, stopping REM sleep, or maybe a coma? Yeah, that would be better than this.

And after a few seconds the noises faded away and Owen fell back into a deep sleep.

And when he opened his eyes again he was in some posh, frilly, bedroom.

* * *

_M4 – Southbound_

John Frobisher felt like his mind was either racing at the speed of light or being turned to soup. Why couldn't' have he just have got a nice office job like his cousin? What had he done?

What had he done?

Frobisher mind flashed with the memory of when his department was collecting witness statements after the Battle of Canary Wharf. It sent shivers down his spine back even back then. The carnage, the destruction, the dead bodies that littered the floor, the smell of burning that filled his nose.

UNIT and his team were interviewing survivors that had managed to escape the Doctor's purge. After he had sent all the Cybermen and whatever those other things were, through the shift he'd ravaged Torchwood one, destroyed hundreds of years' worth of data, incinerated thousands of artefacts.

There was this one woman in particular, a scientist, that struck a chord with him. She had been badly injured in an explosion, she had lost an arm and had burns on her side. She had seen her friends die or get turned into metal men. The way her eyes seemed completely devoid of a soul, he'll remember that look until his last breath.

He asked her to explain what happened; why the Doctor had done what he did. Why he didn't just leave like he usually did. Her words rang loudly in his head;

'The Doctor will save the Earth, will save the universe, and he'll do it because it's the right thing to do. There is a threat that needs to be stopped. He'll fight armies, kill monsters and destroy weapons. He's efficient and only does what only what needs to be done to keep as many people alive as possible, nothing more. But harm the people with him, then it isn't about being efficient anymore, it's about revenge. That's what the higher ups told us, the ones that studied him. That's why Hartman never threatened them. But they died and he blamed Torchwood. I stepped into his firing line when I was trying to escape. Now I have nothing. I've have no job, nothing to show for my years of work, he even drained all of our bank accounts, deleted all the files on every computer that we ever logged into Torchwood with. I have a mortgage, two kids and a husband to feed, I kept all my photo's on my home computer, there's no record of me anymore, not even a national insurance number, it's like my whole life has been erased, my husband will want to know why, and after I tell him I'll lose my family too. The Doctor has taken everything from me, from all of us because we took something away from him.'

John was snapped out of it when he realised he was getting dangerously close to the car in front of him. He had to swerve out the way to avoid back-ending it.

He needed to get off the road or otherwise he'd never make it home.

He pulled off to the hard shoulder and let his head thump against the steering wheel.

 _He_ was the one that gave the order. The Doctor would come after him.

His family.

God, _his_ family.

What was he going to do? No matter how hard he tried he couldn't think of a way out.

Then a thought flickered through his mind. He dismissed it at first, brushed it off as crazy and illogical, but the more he thought about it the more it seemed like the only possible solution of escape.

He shook himself physically, no, there must be another way, surly?

Harriet had thought Tyler had died, and Tyler wasn't with the Doctor so, he thought Tyler was dead too? She wasn't with him and that was the key factor - even if she left on her own accord - the Doctor most likely didn't know where she was either way.

And that meant as long as he could stop the Doctor and UNIT, from making a connection between the 456, the government, and Torchwood his family could be safe. Johnson could keep an eye on whoever UNIT were sending to Cardiff…

John's face fell as he came to a horrid realisation. The phone they took from the hospital! She must've got it from him.

Frobisher frantically searched for his own mobile in his jacket pocket. He smashed the keys of his mobile.

"The phone, and whatever it was you took from Harkness, toss it in the wreckage." he spat to Johnson.

" _But the technology. with it we cou-"_

"Just do it. And for God's sake, make sure no one from UNIT sees you." he hissed, before hanging up the phone and slinging it on the front seat.

The only way to be completely in the clear and save his family would be to kill Torchwood and Rose Tyler and prey to every god and goddess under the sun that the Doctor didn't find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Defenders of the Earth II
> 
> When: I'm going to aim to get it edited in two to four days but it might take longer. 
> 
> Stuff you don't need to read but you can if you want: I know in the original the servers were still intact and it's the computers they needed to steel but I took a bit of an artistic license here.


	12. Day Two, Chapter Five - The Defenders of Earth (part II)

_Tower of London – London_

" _Turn right and it should be just up ahead."_ Ianto's voice echoed through a speaker in Tosh's ear piece; although, it was hard to hear through her panicked breaths. She tip-toed carefully through yet another narrow, winding, underground, stonework, corridor of UNIT's historic base.

She cautiously peered around the turning, placing her hand on the rough stone. Wires ran in bunches along the upper wall of the tunnel. Metal lamps with an industrial orange glow periodically lined the ceiling. The distant muffled voices of the, extremely armed, UNIT officers were never too far away.

She continued down another winding corridor, which sloped unevenly downwards, constantly looking over her shoulder.

" _Stop"_ called Ianto, and Tosh instantly froze.

Tosh felt like her heart was thumping into her rib-cage.

" _There's a storage cupboard seven metres ahead, go NOW!"_

Tosh didn't waste time questioning why. She squeezed into the metal cupboard –which was basically a large tin foot locker shoved into carved out stone - just as footsteps in the distance get louder and louder; closer and closer.

She held her breath for fear of giving herself away.

Tosh listened intently as the officer marched past the cupboard. She risked opening the lid a slither. For a split second it looked as if the officer would continue onwards but then their footsteps came to an abrupt halt and Tosh took an unconscious, sharp, intake of air. The officer swivelled his head towards Tosh, it looked as though he was looking directly at her. Their eyes locked for what seemed like minutes. Tosh's heart was beating like a war drum.

The officer slowly returned his head to a forward facing position.

What was he going to do? Had he seen her? Was he going to suddenly turn round and open fire?

The officer looked to their left and right, as if checking to see the coast was clear.

Then, out of nowhere, the officer let off the most unexpected, but absolutely squelchy fart Tosh had ever had the displeasure of hearing. Tosh scrunched up her face in both horror and confusion as the officer marched briskly onwards; making a quick getaway.

She climbed out of the locker shell shocked, her face wrinkled in disgust.

" _Tosh, Tosh? Come in_." commented Ianto, having not heard the exchange, which was very surprising.

"Yeah I'm fine." Tosh said, still a little dazed. Did that really just happen? She shook herself out of it and peered cautiously around another turning further ahead. "Now, how much further?"

" _Three minutes, you're almost at the centre now."_

"Roger that."

* * *

_Banamon Road – Ealing_

Owen blinked. Yes, he was defiantly in a bedroom, a posh bedroom that was nicely decorated. He lifted his head off the feather pillow - which smelt a little dusty - and carefully looked around. Tyler was nowhere in sight but Mickey was snoring away on a sofa by a bay window further down the room, a plate with crusts on it on the floor near his hand which was drooping on the floor. The door was open a crack and the glow from behind the closed curtains showed no signs of bars, not the hallmarks of a prison cell by any means.

As he shifted his weight to try and get Mickey's attention, he quickly realised, one; his leg still hurt and moving it was a bad idea, and two; that he was wearing different clothes. He gingerly lifted the covers to look at them and found he was wearing baggy tracksuit bottoms and some sort of comic print tee, something a teenager would wear to bed. He silently placed the covers back against his body. His wounded leg had been purposefully left out of the covers and the trouser leg had been rolled above his wound. That must've been Mickey, or Tyler, only they knew that the healing gun needed to react with the nitrogen in the air to heal wounds effectively.

"Smith." he hissed, his voice hoarse, which surprised him, making him instinctively put a hand to his throat.

His eyes caught sight of a glass and a jug of water set aside on the bedside table next to him and suddenly realised just how thirsty he actually was. He skipped the glass and downed the whole jug straight into his mouth. He wiped his face on the tee he was wearing and put the jug back on the table.

"Smith!" he called in a more healthy whisper. But Mickey rolled over so his face was buried in the backseat cushions, a goofy smile on his face.

Owen rolled his eyes and started to look around for something to throw at him. But before he could locate anything, the door creaked open. Owen battled inwardly with himself whether to pretend to be asleep or stay upright. He settled on staying upright.

An older woman stepped through, slim and petite, carrying a plate of food. She had a sort of sixties look about her, the face that was seen as attractive at the time. She was dressed in jeans, a top and a woollen cardigan. Owen studied her, unsure of what to think. He'd never seen her before, he knew that much.

She took one look at him and smiled at him warmly, dropping his suspicions a little. "Ah, you're awake. How are you feeling?"

"Better, thanks." Owen said quickly, eyes glancing towards Mickey and wishing he'd wake up.

The woman seemed to notice and looked over to where Mickey was sleeping. "Ah," she said, understanding the situation. "The reason he insisted on staying here was so he could explain where you are when you woke up... But, I guess it was a stressful day for everyone." she said, walking up to the sofa and collecting the plate from the floor by Mickey. "But, I guess he won't be needing this." She nodded to the plate of food in her other hand. "What about you? Are you hungry?"

Owen shook his head. "No, tah." Owen said flatly, an edginess to his voice. It was a lie but whoever this woman was she didn't seem to be aware of what was going on. They were facing an emergency here. They needed to find the others. And where was Tyler? He didn't have time for this. "Now, why don't you help me out and tell me where the fuck I am or better yet go and wake him up?" he asked in the same tone.

The woman's demeanour instantly changed. She smiled, like she was brushing off an insult. It made Owen tense and he instantly regretted being so blunt. She took her time setting the plates down on a table next to the sofa where Mickey was sleeping and strolled confidently towards Owen so she was just by his bedside. She stood over him, making Owen feel exposed and vulnerable, her hand in arm's reach of his healing leg.

"You're in my house, 13 Bannerman Road, Ealing, London." she said sternly. "Rose and Mickey asked if they could bring you here and I never say no to friends in need."

"And who are you, then?" Owen asked, trying to seem confident but the panic coming through on the last word. He looked over at Mickey who still hadn't budged, the arsehole.

"I'm Sarah – Jane Smith."

Owen's eyes widened, he'd heard Jack mentioning the name now and again. She seemed to have access to some really advance scanning equipment that Torchwood didn't. Jack trusted her opinion.

Shit he should've kept his mouth shut.

"I've been fighting aliens since before you were born." Sarah – Jane continued fiercely. "I've saved the Earth more times than you can count, stepped foot on planets you would never dream of in a million years, travelled through time; seen what the human race will look like a thousand years in the future, seen Italy in the 1400's. So I'd watch your language if I were you, especially around my son. Have you got that?"

She'd travelled in time? To other planets? Impossible... right? The more Owen thought about it the more he wasn't sure. The one thing he was sure of was she was scaring the shi- bee-geezers out of him and he wasn't about to find out if she was lying about all that stuff or not.

Owen nodded eagerly, not wanting her to roast him alive, or something.

Sarah – Jane scanned him with her eyes. "Good." she said, satisfied. "I'll leave you to rest a bit more, it's still early."

Owen watched her carefully as she left the room. She closed the door behind her and Owen collapsed back on the pillows.

He was _defiantly_ out of his depth here.

* * *

_Tower Of London – Tower Hill_

Tosh weaved through the corridors at a pace, her feet barely making a sound. Soon, the stone, castle corridors opened up to a wider and more modern, metal, structure. Collections of wires ran across the ceiling above her, being fed at various points through the wall into the room on the other side. She followed the metal structure until she reached a pair of huge bolted doors. Her eye rapidly darting around the frame, looking for any sort of key pad, she quickly spotted an electronic key card slot and retinal scanner.

She pressed the hand to her ear. "Ianto how much time do I have?"

" _Not long thirty seconds at the most_."

"Right." she said, taking her card machine from her other pocket and swiping it across the key card scanner. It beeped, accepting the card.

She then stripped away the casing on the door reader and plugged in her pager like device from her pocket to a socket in circuitry she'd just exposed, glancing nervously over her shoulder the whole time. She shook her hands in frustration. Why was it taking so long to load a retinal scan from the database?! "Ianto I need more time."

It took Ianto a second to reply " _Sorry?"_

"Now!"

Tosh listened impatiently and she heard Ianto tumbling about in the SUV. " _Okay, one sec._ "

"You've, got ten, **hurry**."

Tosh's device beeped gruelling eleven seconds later, indicating it was ready. Tosh frantically brought her handheld pager like device up to the scanner. A focused beam of light radiated from the door scanner and moved downwards. Tosh's pager device emitted a stronger light, casting a projection of an eyeball for the door scanner to read.

The scanner blinked green and Tosh gave a quiet, triumphant "Yes!" as she turned towards the doors. Moments later she heard the loud metal clangs and clicks of the huge locks shifting on the other side.

She stepped inside the server room. The room was about the size of a theatre or cinema but the ceilings were ridiculously tall. Towers of severs, about two stories high, ran in rows down the room, the numerous lights blinking away on each tower, almost making them look like mini, futuristic, skyscrapers in the night. The room was as cold and dry, as Tosh expected, allowing the servers to work to their full efficiency.

The doors closed behind her. She listened carefully for any alarm or hint that the officers had noticed but heard nothing.

" _You're welcome."_ said Ianto, clearly out of breath. " _I sent the officer patrolling a text saying that two thousand pound had been taken out his bank account_. _Bought you a few more seconds."_

"Nice." said Tosh, clearly impressed. "Thanks." She cracked a genuine smile as she wondered further towards the centre of the room, keeping an eye out for any unexpected guests, her pager like device in her hand. The rows of servers were long and it took her a while to get to the other side.

There was a noise from the entrance and she instantly spun towards it. 

"I take it you've managed to keep me out of the CCTV?" 

" _Yes mam_." 

Tosh waited a few seconds but nothing came crashing through the doors. She turned around and continued walking. 

She soon reached the main terminal. It looked similar to a retro cash machine, with a web of modem type wires attached the back, there were so many that the back of the machine reminded Tosh of the back of a porcupine. From the thick layer of dust that stuck to Tosh's sleeve as she ran her arm across the screen, it was obvious it had been a while since anyone had used it. Someone had been slacking off; they were meant to keep these sorts of things clean.

"Okay, I'm at the main terminal now. How's it looking?" she asked, as she pressed a single key on the keyboard and the screen flickered to life.

" _All clear._ "

Satisfied, Tosh began typing away. After a few short moments, she plugged her pager like device into the terminal. A few more taps of the keys and Tosh grinned as the progress bar for the virus upload appeared on one side of the screen and a dialogue box on the other.

"Okay, I'm in. I need to upload the virus a bit at a time, so pull up a seat because we'll be here awhile."

" _How long's awhile?"_

Tosh blew air out her cheeks. "About three hours and forty five minutes to four hours, I don't know exactly what there security's like so I can't make a more precise estimate. You'll have to keep monitoring the feeds."

" _No probs_."

* * *

_Banamon Road – Ealing_

Rose blinked. It took her a while to remember that she was in Sarah – Jane's house, the past events of the last twenty-four hours must be playing on her mind. She'd dreamt of the Doctor when she'd nodded off in the car and it'd been so weird. She'd even asked Sarah – Jane if there'd been any sighting of him but Mr Smith insisted that there hadn't been.

He'd just been so different to when she normally dreamt about him. He was even wearing a new suit. Well sort of, it was blue with brown pinstripes this time, always the creative her, she thought to herself. She must've hit her head or something during the explosion after all.

She pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind. Jack and the others were waiting and Mr Smith had probably finished searching for the others by now.

She tied back her hair in quick ponytail, shoved on some of Luke's friends clothes Sarah - Jane had left out for her, and wondered downstairs. She quickly peeked into Owen's room and was surprised to find him awake.

She knocked on the frame of the door.

Owen looked at her briefly in acknowledgement before returning his attention back on his leg. "You're up then, a lot better than him." Owen jerked his head towards the sofa. Rose took that as Owen giving her permission to enter and walked in, looking towards where he was motioning, only to find Mickey snoring away.

Rose sighed disappointingly and waved one of her hands about in frustration. "He was supposed t' –"

"Tell me where I was?" interrupted Owen, glancing briefly at Rose before returning his attention to his leg, doing some sort of examination on it.

Rose looked at him questioningly but he wasn't paying attention. She looked at his leg. It was practically purple with a nasty scab on it. "How is it?" she asked.

"Serious bruising on the thigh, partially healed penetration wound approximately six centimetres to the right of the femur bone – through and through, no sign of infection or permanent damage to adductor muscles, although the trauma is obvious." Owen moved his foot up and down, then winced as he bent his knee and swung his legs over the bed. Rose helped him, grabbing his shoulders, he said nothing but didn't protest either. He bent his injured leg over the bed a few times, testing he could still move it "Seemingly no damage to the femoral nerves. Although, I'm guessing I'll have to wait a bit longer to know for sure."

"So you'll be okay, yeah?" asked, still keeping one hand on his shoulder, should he topple over.

"Well for a bloke who was thirty seconds from bleeding to death yesterday, not bad." 

Rose smiled but then Owen tried to push himself off the bed. "Wot you doing? You should rest." she protested.

"I need to check if my adductor muscles have atrophied or not. Gwen's results were inconclusive."

Rose didn't completely understand but helped heave him up, putting all of her weight into it. Owen grunted and gritted his teeth with the pain but he seemed to be able to take his own weight. After a few seconds of steadying himself Owen waved Rose off, she hesitantly stepped away, arms aimed outwards in case he suddenly fell. Owen took a few quick breaths, readying himself and took a few small steps, teeth gritted the whole time.

He walked to the end of the bed, Rose following him closely. Once he reached the end he turned around and latched onto Rose as they tried their best to sit him as painlessly as possible back to the bed.

After a few seconds of recovery, Owen turned his head to face Rose. "No sighs of atrophy, just serious, make that extremely serious bruising. Hurts like hell"

"But that's good, yeah?"

"Yeah." Owen nodded. He looked like he was about to say something, then stopped, but then opened his mouth again. "I've got to ask Tyler, how do you know that Sarah – Jane Smith?"

Rose was a bit surprised by his question and wondered a bit further away from him, not liking being put on the spot. She nervously fiddled with her sleeve, not looking Owen in the eye. Jack had asked her not to mention the Doctor, and she didn't really like bringing him up to people who had never met him. "It's a long story."

"Come on Tyler." Owen said with a hint of agitation.

Rose sighed in defeat and looked around the room as she spoke. "Well, I guess you could say we were investigating the same thing." Owen was listening intently, finally a chance to find out more about Smith, Tyler, and perhaps his mysterious boss. "There was this school, it'd been taken over by these aliens. Krillitane, they were called Krillitane. They were using the kids to try and crack this code that could let you like re-make the universe."

Owen swallowed. Sarah - Jane wasn't lying. 

"We were trying to stop it and Sarah – Jane was too, so our paths just kind'v… crossed I guess."

"How did you stop it?"

"The Krillitanes had this oil, they were really allergic to it but they needed it to control the children, make them smarter, make them docile, so then the kids could crack the code. They used it for the chips in the school lunches so there was barrels of the stuff in the kitchen. And we, well this friend of ours… sort'v blew up the school, and killed them all."

Owen's eyes widened. He was silent for a few seconds, processing the story. Then suddenly burst out laughing.

"Wot?" asked Rose, a little angrily.

"Chips?"

"Yeah?"

"I bet you were the smartest person in there then."

"Shut up."

Mickey burst out laughing, unable to hide the fact that he was actually awake any longer.

"Mickey!" Rose cried angrily.

The exchange caused Owen to laugh harder, only for him to wince as it made the pain from his injury worse, which in turn made Mickey laugh more. Rose tried to be angry at them both but the laughter was infectious.

When Luke appeared in the doorway, all three were heaving in a fit of laughter, tears in Owen's eyes from the accompanying pain. "Good you're all awake. Mum sent me to find you. Mr Smith has finished searching for the rest of Torchwood."

And in an instant, the laughter stopped.

* * *

_Tower of London – Park Way_

Tosh pinched the bridge of her nose and readjusted her glasses, she blinked, trying to get her eyes to focus. She had been at this for hours. She looked at the progress bar, only one last line of code to edit. "Ianto I'm almost done. Then comes the tricky part of actually escaping."

" _Right, ready when you are."_

Tosh thought. She looked at the screen, the virus had finished uploading, she just needed to activate it. Once the virus was activated it was on the system and there was nothing UNIT could do. Just a few more algorithms….

ERROR REMOTE ACTIVATION IMPLAUSIBLE

"WHAT!" hissed Tosh.

" _What is it, Tosh? I don't have eyes in there."_ Ianto called over the speaker in a panic. " _TOSH_!"

"It's the virus, it won't let me activate it remotely." Tosh straightened her back and pulled herself closer to the terminal. "Hang on I'm going to run a diagnostic." Her fingers flew over the keys.

REMOTE ACTIVATION IMPLAUSIBLE ROOM LINED WITH WIREMESH - EMI AND RFI COMMUNICATION NOT POSSIBLE

"Shit."

" _What_?"

"I can't access activate the virus remotely."

" _But can't you just activate it now_?"

"Yes, but that will trigger the alarm. That's why it's so important. I'll be cornered in here. I'll never make it out." Tosh thought and made a snap decision. "Listen Ianto I'll activate the virus just drive off without me. Just go."

" _No way_." Ianto said straight away but Tosh had already made up her mind and began to type away. " _I'll stay even if you do activate it so don't._ "

Tosh stopped. "But you have to go, the others will be counting on us."

" _I know, but I already left Jack behind - I'm not leaving you. Look there has to be some other way. You said earlier that using UNIT's search database outside the base will trigger the alarm, well then I'll run a search, that way they'll come after me and you'll have a chance to escape_."

"A distraction?"

" _Yeah, will it work_?"

Tosh thought, it was certainly doable, well it wasn't impossible. "You can't search from the SUV. That's our life line. You'll have to hack into their database using another computer network. Search to see if there's any office block nearby. It has to be in range of UNIT's network. The bigger the building the more time they need to search, the more time you have to get away. If I'm not back just go without me otherwise it'll all be for nothing."

Tosh heard Ianto typing quickly over the speaker. " _Got it. There's an office block, just like you said, three minutes' walk away. Should be in range_."

"Go, there should be a USB device somewhere in the car, that'll allow you to hack into UNIT's network from the computer you use in the office block."

" _Got it, wish me luck_."

"Good luck… not that you'll need it."

" _Heh."_

* * *

_Tower of London – London_

Martha was being shown round the ancient castle. Even though she'd spent most of her life in London she'd never actually been to the Tower. It was a nice change of pace; despite everything going on, and she much preferred hearing about the history than actually experiencing it… on this occasion.

She'd felt sort of useless yesterday, everyone seemed so busy yet no one had bothered her. When she went to find the Doctor - after spending a night in the dorms - he was still standing in the same place, being bombarded by different officers than the night before, the Colonel too. It seemed that they hadn't gotten any further to narrowing down the possible child abductions.

At least the officer showing her around seemed sort of nice looking.

Suddenly, alarm bells blared through the castle. Lights flashed. The officer with Martha instinctively readied his weapon.

"What is it? What's happening!?" Martha shouted in a panic, over the alarm.

"Security breach!" the officer yelled. "This way."

The officer marched Martha back the way they came. She had to press herself against the rough wall as a horde of officers raced past them in the opposite direction; guns at the ready. They were just about half way to the control room when Martha heard the Doctor shout her name over the alarm.

"Doctor!" she called happily, rushing towards him. "What's happening?"

"Security breach, someone's gained access to UNIT's wireless network."

"The aliens behind the children?" Martha asked quickly.

The Doctor grabbed Martha's hand and led her back towards the control room, the officer escorting her following close behind. "Nah, I don't think hacking into UNIT's network from an office block down the road is really their style."

As soon as they reached the control room the Doctor dropped Martha's hand and rushed straight towards the Colonel. "Oduya, do you have an ID yet?" he asked, looking towards the giant projection screen on the opposite wall. It showed a still of CCTV from the street, zoomed in on a man's face on the right and a dialogue box with lines of code on the left.

Oduya acknowledged the Doctor with a nod before speaking. "Ianto Jones."

"Blimey that was quick." said the Doctor, looking back at the Colonel in surprise.

"He's a Torchwood agent, we've had dealings with him in the past, used to work for Torchwood I but now he works at Torchwood III"

The Doctor looked a little shocked and returned his attention to the screen, this time focusing on the code displayed on the left.

"And that's the Torchwood in Cardiff, right? The one that exploded?" asked Martha.

The Colonel nodded.

Martha studied the screen. "So what's he doing here?"

"Good question." agreed the Doctor, still studying the information.

"We're not sure. His access to the network suggests he wants information."

"Any idea how he hacked in?" the Doctor asked.

"No, we think it might be some sort of Trojan Horse, but we are having difficulty finding how it entered our systems."

"No anymore." the Doctor said arrogantly. "Show me the network activity log for the whole network from five minutes ago to now."

"Sir."

The Colonel nodded towards the officers manning the computers who then started typing away. In a few seconds the whole projection screen was replaced with a screen of numbers and characters that whizzed by so quickly it looked like a blur.

The Doctor's eyes rapidly darted from side to side, able to read at such a pace. Martha and the Colonel looked at him in awe, but then the Doctor turned away from the screen, his face looking like he was trying to work something out.

"Doctor?" Martha asked hesitantly.

His face suddenly turned manic as he gave a splitting grin. "Brilliant." he smiled, before turning tail and bolting out the door. Martha looked around, dazed for a moment before she tore off after him.

"DOCTOR?!" she called but he either ignored her or was too far in front to hear her cry over the alarm.

* * *

_Bannerman Road – Ealing_

As soon as Owen reached the attic he went instantly towards the closest chair he could see, Rose and Mickey helping him. Once he recovered he looked around the room. Sarah – Jane had definitely fought aliens. He could recognise some of the artefacts she had on display, but the biggest give away was the very advance, sci-fi looking computer she had built into the chimney on a lower platform further away from the entrance.

"Owen." said Sarah – Jane. "Allow me to introduce you. This is Maria." Sarah – Jane motioned towards a young teenage girl. She had long brown wavy hair and a light complexion; she was quite short, even given her age.

"Hi." said Maria, stepping forward to shake Owen's hand. "Nice to meet you."

Owen smiled awkwardly. What a day this was. 

"And this is Clyde." continued Sarah – Jane, placing an arm around another teenager, who looked around the same age as Maria. He had dark skin and was a bit taller, he had a kind of confidence and way about him that Owen guessed would make him quite popular at school.

Clyde gave a nod and smile. "Hey." 

Sarah – Jane moved onto Luke, placing her arm around him and giving him a playful shake. Owen had already met him. From the little he had said on the way up he sounded smart, almost Tosh level smart. "And you've already met my son, Luke."

"Yeah." Owen added.

"And this." Sarah – Jane released Luke and motioned a hand at the futuristic computer. "Is Mr Smith."

" _Greetings Dr Owen Harper_."

Owen widened his eyes in surprise. The voice came from the computer, and not a robotic voice either a human voice, with clear intonations and emotions. "It talks!"

"I think you'll find that _he_ is quite capable of intelligent conversation, than you." corrected Sarah Jane.

Sarah Jane stepped between the teenagers and where Owen was sitting, she gestured towards the teenagers and Mr Smith. "Think of them as my sort of team. We help aliens who ask for it and stop those who wish to harm the Earth." They all looked towards Owen expectantly.

"Yeah." he tried to adjust where he was sitting but winced as pain shot up his body. Rose and Mickey went to help him but he waved them off.

"Hold on, I think I might have just the thing." said Sarah – Jane. She started to rummage through some draws at the back of the large room. "We helped a nurse from Noctoon Beta fix his ship last month and as a thanks he gave us these." She held up a plastic capsule, similar in size and appearance to the container inside the Kinder Surprise Eggs, although instead of yellow it was transparent. Inside were small metallic blue capsules. She walked up to where Owen was sitting "Healing tablets. They should help with your leg, perfectly safe for human consumption." She paused, thinking. "As long as you don't drink any caffeine for 27 hours after you've taken them." she added firmly, glancing towards Clyde, as did the other teenagers.

"Why, what happens then?" Owen dared asked, taking the capsule and examining the tablets inside.

"Oh, trust me you don't want to know." Maria said with a knowing sort of giggle. "Last time Clyde took some with a can of coke and he – "

"Alright, alright, like you said I'm sure doesn't want to know." interrupted Clyde, jerking his eyebrows in Maria's direction.

"But I think we should tell him otherwise he might repeat the same social mistakes." explained Luke.

"Look Luke-y boy." said Clyde with an irritated smile, staring daggers at Luke. "He's a doctor yeah? So I'm sure he'll follow the instructions."

Luke seemed to understand and nodded in agreement.

"Right, let's remember why we're here shall we?" said Sarah – Jane, re-focusing the teens. "I'm sure Torchwood want to find out what happened to their friends."

There were murmurs of apology, satisfied Sarah – Jane turned to Mr Smith, a determined look in her eye. "Mr Smith show us what you've found."

* * *

_Tower Hill – London_

Ianto shuffled further under the desk, the laptop that he'd unplugged from a locked cabinet he had broken into, resting on his lap. The USB Tosh had told him to take plugged into one of the ports. He hoped that the UNIT officers would clear the rooms quickly, therefore just see an empty office and not expect him to be hiding in such an obvious spot and move on to the next room.

They were on their way, lots of them; he could see the CCTV from the office building reception – something that Tosh's programme made sure UNIT were denied access to. Tosh was right, they didn't take this sort of thing lightly.

He had searched for Jack but found nothing. All that UNIT knew was that he was MIA.

He still needed to stay put, so Tosh would have time to escape. They were on sweeping the first floor now. He was on the third. He really hoped his plan would work and they wouldn't spot him. From the CCTV it seemed they weren't doing a thorough search. His knee bounced nervously. He just wanted them to get here so they they would move to the next floor and he could escape. He felt like he was wasting precious time doing nothing.

He looked at the laptop screen, the window for the UNIT's search programme was still open. Well, if he and Tosh got caught at least he could let her know what happened to the others as they were dragged kicking and screaming to thier new residents. Gwen was safe the last they spoke but she might've been captured since then. He typed in the name; Gwen Cooper to the search bar.

MOST LIKELY HIT: GWEN COOPER, TORCHWOOD AGENT

STATUS: MIA

LOCATION: UNKNOWN

Okay so UNIT didn't know anything. What about the others? Ianto typed in the next name.

MOST LIKELY HIT: DOCTOR OWEN HARPER, TORCHWOOD AGENT

STATUS: MIA

LOCATION: UNKNOWN

Ianto looked at the CCTV footage tracking the officers. They were still on the first floor. Next, Rose Tyler.

MOST LIKELY HIT: ROSE HELEN TYLER, NASA SCIENTIST

STATUS: RETIRED

LOCATION: PARIS, FRANCE - 6 RUE MALOTT' MONTREUIL

Ianto raised his eyebrows; NASA scientist, that couldn't be right surely. He clicked on the picture. It showed a dark skinned, old, woman, with short curly hair, in her late sixties by the looks of it. Defiantly not the Rose Tyler he was looking for.

He searched Mickey Smith with the same result. Had Jack not updated the paperwork? But that was months ago. "No wonder the higher ups haven't taken a liking to you, sir." Ianto muttered to himself. He looked at the CCTV, the officers were marching up the staircase to the second floor.

Maybe if he did a facial recognition search he'd get more luck? But he didn't have a picture on him and it's not like he could just pop to the scanner if he did. He thought. Well, if he had access to UNIT's network now he could just use it to gain access to the country's CCTV; in particular the CCTV cameras that were playing when Mickey and Rose first entered the hub. He knew it existed because he and the others all snooped around Tosh's terminal when it happened, gossiping like a bunch of school girls. That was an eventful day to say the least.

Ianto did a quick search and sure enough he found what he was looking for. He glanced at the CCTV window open on the laptop, they were searching the second floor now. He still had time. He copied a still of Rose and ran it through the database.

NO MATCH

Ianto's shoulder's slumped, even after all that effort.

The door slammed open. UNIT officers with torch lights attached to their aimed weapons swarmed the room. Ianto flinched, dropping the laptop in the process. The officers began to sweep through the rows of desks he was hiding under. Ianto slowly picked up the laptop and closed the lid as to not make a sound. He clutched it close to his body so the light from the sleep button wouldn't give him away.

He watched as silently as he could as the boots of the officers circled around him. He put one hand over his mouth to further silence himself. He had been through worse than this, he could handle it; he told himself over and over. One officer stopped right by his table and Ianto's breath caught.

"All clear." the officer closest to him announced.

Ianto didn't move a millimetre, not until he heard the doors to the stairwell slamed shut. He gingerly climbed out from under the table, leaving the - extremely trackable - laptop behind, but being sure to grab Tosh's USB. He glanced up at the CCTV camera; thank God Tosh's programme stopped UNIT from accessing it. What would he have done without her?

He looked nervously towards the door to the stairs, nothing. He peered through the little glass window and tried his best to look upwards without opening the door. He could see streaks of light from the officers' torches as they prepared to search the fourth floor. Once the lights subsided after a few seconds he soundlessly pushed open the door. Above, he could hear the officers marching as he hastily made his way down.

At the entrance to the office there were two UNIT officers guarding the entrance to the stairwell. Thankfully, they had their backs to him and didn't seem to hear his approach. He had his gun, but Jack had really clamped down on the use of violence since Rose and Mickey joined and he didn't want to disappoint him by killing two guards to escape. He looked around for a weapon. There was nothing in the hallway, and he couldn't beat them in a fist fight. He brought his hands to his head in frustration. He was so close.

Then he spotted that the guards were carrying Tasers on their belts.

He would have one shot.

He reached for the Taser.

And missed,

The officer he tried to grab it from spun round and shouted at warning to his comrade, gun at the ready. Thinking quickly, Ianto spun to the other officer, who was momentarily stunned but the sudden action. Ianto took the Taser from the stunned officer and jabbed it into the other officers neck, causing him to convulse to the ground. As he was falling Ianto dropped the Taser he was holding – he knew each Taser only had one shot - and grabbed the incapacitated officer's Taser before he reached the floor. Ianto swerved around to the remaining officer who was now shakily pointing his gun at Ianto, but Ianto quickly hit it to one side and jammed the Taser into the officer's neck. As the remaining officer fell to the floor his finger squeezed the trigger of his gun and let off a shot. The bullet was miles away from hitting anything living but the shot would surely get the attention of the other officers searching the building.

Ianto didn't waste a second and was out the door in an instant and pelting towards the car park.

* * *

_Tower Of London – Tower Hill_

The Doctor was speeding along the winding castle tunnels and corridors at an impressive pace. He knew he had to move quickly, if these people were smart, and with current evidence that was most likely the case, then they would've made a break for it as soon as the alarm sounded.

The closest exit from the server room was in a more modern building above ground. The easiest way would be to take the wider, more evenly spaced, stairs a close the exit. But from the plans he knew that there were older, spiral stairs that led to the same building but were just a bit further away. If he could run fast enough, and he was oh so very good at running, then he could beat the other mystery intruder by cutting off their path via a corridor just a few meters from the exit.

The Doctor powered up the spiral staircase and an impressive speed, stepping three steep steps at the time. He couldn't hear Martha behind him anymore and assumed she had fallen behind but he didn't have time to waste matching her speed and she wasn't in any danger by being left behind.

He crashed through the double doors leading to the above ground building, a more modern, clinical structure than the castle tunnels below. He just needed to make it to the junction up ahead. He only had a few more seconds. Almost there, he thought, as he sprinted towards the junction.

And …

Made it.

He had no time to slow down so he skidded on his converses, using a wall as a buffer.

He looked down the junction and he saw a scared Japanese woman stumble to halt mere meters in front of him. Elated at his own genius, he gave a triumphant smile. But then his face fell. He'd seen her somewhere before.

"Oh, it's you." he said in surprise.

Tosh had no idea who this spiky haired man in was in front of her but she was pretty good with faces and was sure that she'd never met this man before in her life. And more importantly he was standing between her and her rapidly closing escape window.

"I think you're mistaken." Tosh retorted back, her body was tense, like a cornered animal. Her hand slowly moving towards the weapon holstered on her belt. This man didn't look like a UNIT officer, no cap or uniform and from where she was standing she couldn't even see a weapon. But since he had managed to see through her and Ianto's distraction it'd be safe for her to assume that he was dangerous.

The Doctor remembered he had met her back when he was all ears and leather. She was the doctor who conducted the autopsy on that 'space pig' back when he'd _accidentally_ kidnapped Rose for a year instead of his promised twelve hours. She was scared back then, like she was now. But she recovered quickly and seemed clever. He saw her slowly reached for a gun around her waist.

"Look I don't want to hurt you." said the Doctor, his arms raised in surrender. "I just want to talk. That's all just talk." the Doctor nodded to the weapon. "So, there's no need to use that."

The woman, whose name he rudely didn't ask last time they met, stayed tense. "Easy for you to say." she said, her eyes darting towards the fire escape, telling the Doctor she was thinking about stepping around him.

"What's your name?" the Doctor asked, lowering his hands, but stepping out, blocking her means of escape.

The woman didn't answer.

"Are you with Torchwood? Like Ianto Jones? Why are you here? What was that virus you uploaded to the network?" The Doctor already knew the answer to the last question but anything to get the woman to speak to him.

The woman glanced behind him towards the exit.

The Doctor risked taking a few steps closer. "Look if you talk to me I can help you."

Tosh tensed as the stranger approached her, hovering her hand over her holster. She could shoot him but he was unarmed and she didn't want to kill him just for getting in her way. He was trying to negotiate with her but UNIT were ruthless and even though he didn't look like an officer she knew he was likely distracting her until they showed up. "The virus isn't designed to leak sensitive information, if that's what UNIT is worried about."

The Doctor took another tiny step forward, there were only a few feet between them now, the Doctor slowly lowered his arms and looked her straight in the eye, willing her to trust him. "If it doesn't leak information then what does it do? What is Torchwood looking for?" he asked in a whisper.

The woman searched his face, looking for a sign of betrayal. The Doctor was sure he had gained her trust but then her body language suddenly shifted as she readied an attack. He surged forward, trying to grab her arm, thinking she would reach for the gun and shoot. But he soon realised that was not her intended method of attack as she pulled away from him and swung her leg back, poised for a perfectly well-aimed and _extremely_ painful kick.

Tosh stood still for a few moments in stunned silence. She had just kicked this very odd man right between the knees. Weren't men supposed to fall to the floor when you did that?

She hesitantly glanced up at him, wondering what he was going to do next, but then she saw his face. Oh, thought Tosh, he had most _defiantly_ felt it. His face was a picture, like Owen's when he caught his toe on the vault door but was played it off because Susie was there. It was blindingly obvious to everyone of course. Owen's eyes even got watery like that too. The man appeared to be too busy trying to mentally numb the pain to focus on her so Tosh took that as her cue and rushed past him while she still had the chance.

The fire exit door to freedom was only a few steps away when she felt a loose grip around her arm.

"Wait." cried a strained voice behind her.

Oh no you don't, thought Tosh. Before the man had a chance to tighten his grip Tosh whipped around and with her free hand struck him across the face, like a slap but with a tight fist. The man released his grip immediately, losing his balance and having to use his other arm to steady himself against the wall as he stumbled from the impact.

Tosh didn't look back as she bolted out the doors but heard him grunting in pain as he tried to chase after her.

She sprinted to the car park; through the hedges, across the road, over the wall. Every passing second she expected to hear the doors crash open, followed by the angry cries of swarms of UNIT grunts. But when she climbed over the ledge of the car park building, she had a chance to look back without slowing down and no one was chasing her.

Still she didn't slow down, her legs pumping. She spotted the SUV amongst the cars and her whole body relaxed when she saw Ianto was frantically beckoning her in. She raced into the car and they sped off, Tosh trying desperately to catch her breath.

They had made it. She looked behind her for any sight of pursuers,

But strangely, there were none.

* * *

No matter how far Martha tried to will her legs onwards they were still far too slow for the Doctor at a full sprint. He'd ran so fast that by the time she'd made it around the corner he'd disappeared. She wasted a lot of time incorrectly guessing where he went.

She finally found him in a clinical looking corridor, like one from the many hospitals she had worked in. His body was facing a wall, his arm pressed against it, his head buried in the crease of his elbow, hiding his face, almost like he was it in a game of hide and seek and he was the one counting to a hundred. But to Martha it looked like he was crying or something.

"Doctor!" Martha called in alarm as she rushed to his side. "Are you alright? What happened?"

He turned to face her "I'm fine." he said through pained breaths, making it very clear to her that he was not, in fact, fine. Even if he could say it convincingly there was a big red mark on his cheek and he was still leaning against the wall.

"Well you don't sound fine." Martha retorted. And before the Doctor could protest she added. "And your face is red. Did someone hit you?"

At that moment a swarm of UNIT officers appeared behind Martha and the Doctor stood upright, trying to hide his obvious discomfort. "Sir." they greeted the Doctor. "Jones Escaped. We've got helicopters at the ready and we're sending out a land unit to bring them in." said one of the UNIT officers, the leader of the group most likely.

"No." said the Doctor firmly, teeth still clenched. "Let them go."

"Sir?" questioned the leader.

"But they hurt you!" Martha protested.

The UNIT officers looked surprised at Martha's statement and glanced at the leader. The leader looked at the Doctor. Martha could tell, that even the leader could tell that the Doctor was playing off an injury. "Sir? If someone has attacked a UN-"

"She had a gun." the Doctor interrupted, seeming to recover more as he spoke. "She could've shot me but she didn't. What about Ianto Jones? Were any of the officers hurt?"

The leader was a little perplexed by the Doctor's statement and took a few moments to answer, debating whether he should push further or not. "No… He stunned two officers with their own Tasers but they are strictly non-lethal weapons."

"You see, he could've taken their guns but he didn't. Having access to a gun and deciding _not_ to shoot people makes someone a friendly in my book."

"But sir, they could've stolen highly sensitive information."

"More than that." The Doctor said darkly, his voice getting more energetic as he continued. But Martha noted that where he would usually be pacing about he was keeping firmly in one place. "That woman had access to the main server terminal, she could've crashed your whole system if she wanted to, sent all of your secure files to the world governments, stolen all your intel, but all she did is plant a tiny little virus" The Doctor made a little gap between his two fingers for emphasis. "So she can remotely access your network. Why?"

No one answered so the Doctor continued his ramble, still not moving from his spot. "Something's happened to Torchwood and I think it's time we found out what that was." The Doctor glared at the leader.

"Sir." he conceded. "We recovered a laptop that Jones was using when he accessed the database. Maybe his search history can give us an insight."

"Right." said the Doctor. "Lead the way." he gestured his hands down the corridor the officers had entered from. The leader gave a nod and led his men back towards the underground castle tunnels.

The Doctor waited until all the officers backs' were turned before he started limping after them. Martha shot him a look and moved closer to help him but the Doctor was quick to wave her off. Martha stopped walking and huffed, she put her hands on her hips and gave him an agitated, tired sort of look that said; ' _You're hurt and you're really going to be difficult and not let me help?_ ' But, the Doctor gave her his pleading, wounded puppy look as if to say; ' _Yes and I don't want to make a fuss so please don't say anything_.'

Martha yielded with a sigh and the slump of her shoulders. She continued walking and looped her arm with the Doctor, which he must've been grateful for because as soon as she did so he leaned into her, using her as support.

"Do you think it could be connected to the children?" Martha asked after a while, as they followed the officers.

"I think so. It's the most likely theory don't you think? Colonel Oduya said Torchwood was working on the case before the explosion, maybe it really was something to do with that after all... Thanks by the way."

Martha smiled. "You're welcome."

* * *

_Bannerman Road - Ealing_

Owen watched from a far in his chair as the strange group of Sarah – Jane, Luke, Maria, Clyde, Rose and Mickey gathered around the futuristic looking super computer, who apparently had a name, gender and consciousness.

" _Gwen Cooper_." Mr Smith's monitor fizzed and displayed a clip of CCTV from an empty street. A few seconds later the Torchwood convertible screeched to a halt, parked haphazardly on the pavement. Gwen scrambled out and rushed towards a block of flats. " _Confirmed alive_."

Owen slumped further into his chair, he was worried about Gwen. Rose and Mickey relaxed too.

The screen fizzed again and instead displayed the CCTV from a café with sort of coffee shop décor and fairy lights. " _Last known sighting, today, Café Aroma, Monument, London, 10:37 am._ " Gwen was sitting at a table with Rhys, the both looked very nervous and were glancing towards the door, the footage was choppy, only one frame every three seconds.

"Rhys got out too." Rose smiled.

"But 10:37? But that's now?" Maria said, looking at her watch.

" _Correct Maria, the feed that you are currently watching is live._ "

"Isn't there any way we can call them? Like they would've chucked their mobiles, but the café must 'ave a phone?" Mickey suggested.

"I don't think that's such a good idea." said Sarah – Jane, who was met with confused faces. "If we call the restaurant they will assume it's whoever's after them and we don't want to panic them." she motioned towards the footage. "They already look scared enough as it is."

There was a collection of agreements throughout the group.

Once she was certain everyone agreed Sarah – Jane returned to Mr Smith. "Okay, Mr Smith, what about Tosh and Ianto? They left together, did they make it?"

The screen fizzed again, this time it showed two stills from different cameras; Tosh in a car park and Ianto on a street by a fancy glass building. " _Toshiko Seto and Ianto Jones, confirmed alive."_

And again, a ripple of relief spread through the group. Three of their friends were alive. The tension visibly lessened. 

" _The last known sighting of Toshiko Seto; 4:23am, Minories Car Park, Tower, London. The last known sighting for Ianto Jones; 8:42am Tower Bridge House, St Katharine's & Wapping, London_"

Sarah – Jane was thinking away, a worried expression on her face, her head shaking slightly as she ran through the theories in her head.

"Mum?" Luke asked, concerned. "What's wrong?" The rest of the group turned to look at her.

"Sarah – Jane?" Rose asked.

"Those places, they're all near the Tower of London." She tilted her head up towards Mr Smith. "That's right, isn't it?"

" _Yes, Sarah – Jane."_

"The Tower of London? What's so special about some old castle?" Clyde asked.

Owen was about to answer but the computer beat him to it, information and pictures appearing on the screen. " _It is the British HQ for the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, or UNIT as it's more commonly known._ "

"UNIT?" Rose asked in surprise. "But why would they want to go there? Tosh hates UNIT."

Mickey was deep in thought. "The servers?" Mickey queried, looking around to see if anyone agreed with him being met with confused faces instead. "Well, the explosion would've taken out the servers, all our connections to the police and things, and UNIT's got access to the same info, so maybe Tosh wanted to try and restore a connection so her computer programmes would work again." Mickey explained.

"Sounds like something Tosh would do." Rose agreed, after a few seconds of thinking it though.

"So.." asked Owen to Mr Smith. "Did they make it?"

" _It certainly appears that way, An alarm was triggered at 8:26 this morning, but there is no record of any prisoners being taken as a result_."

Rose smiled with pride, as did Owen and Mickey, they knew they were good. Rose's face fell. "What about Jack?" she asked nervously, tugging on her ear.

" _Captain Jack Harkness_." said Mr Smith began, the group to brace themselves for bad news, even with his abilities, the explosion was so destructive. " _confirmed alive. –"_

Rose and Mickey practically slumped, all of them, all of their friends had survived. Owen, however, glanced between everyone in confusion. Not that he wasn't pleased, but the explosion should've ripped Jack apart, how the fuck did he survive!

A map appeared on the screen, next to it some medical readouts that Owen tried to make sense of but couldn't. " _Although, it seems that the force of the explosion may have caused a temporary delay in his healing abilities.-"_ Owen jerked and looked around but only he was surprised. _"- He was initially declared dead and remains taken to Ashdown House, a secure facility in Kent, overseen"_ An image of John Frobisher appeared on the screen and Owen's eyes widened. Mickey and Rose were too new to know him but he was Torchwoods go to government guy, at least he was. _"by the Home Office adviser John Frobisher. There it appears Captain Harkness's healing ability restarted and he was moved to a cell within the facility. I have access to a live feed, would you like me to play it Sarah – Jane?_ "

Sarah – Jane looked at the screen, the fact that Mr Smith was asking and not doing automatically meant that the footage was not the best viewing experience. She looked around the room. The children were looking at her expectantly but Rose and Mickey's eyes were giving her a look, knowing what the question meant. She looked over to Owen who shook his head at her, pleading her not to show it.

"I think I'll take your word for it Mr Smith, if you don't mind."

" _Very well Sarah – Jane_."

"Who's John Frobisher?" Rose asked, her nose wrinkled.

It was clear nobody expected Owen to answer as they all jerked their heads in his direction when he spoke. "He's Torchwood's go to. The government liaison. When Jack said he was reaching out to the home office earlier, that's who he was calling. But never mind that for now. How is Jack still alive?"

The rest of the group glanced around. It was clear they knew the answer, even the teenagers.

"He can't die." Rose admitted after a bout of silence. "Something... happened to him, a long time ago. And now whenever he dies, he comes back."

Owen studied Rose intently. There was clearly more to the story and it was obvious she knew it. The others all said nothing, but had a look in their eyes, like they knew the whole truth but didn't want to say. Owen conceded, there were more important things right now. He could question Jack later. "Okay, so I guess that's why they planted the bomb in the first place, to try and get rid of Jack?"

"Yeah, has to be." Mickey agreed.

"But if you and the government are on the same side, why are they trying to kill you?" Clyde asked.

"Good question." Owen admitted. "And more importantly how is this connected to the kiddies?"

"You think it's connected to what's happening with the children?" Sarah – Jane asked in surprise.

"Has to, doesn't it? I mean the kids start chanting, we start getting somewhere with the investigation and suddenly we're the government's most wanted." Owen explained.

"Yeah, but right now we need to be trying to get Jack out." Rose interrupted. "Cos that's what the others will be doing. And once we find the others then we can try and stop what's happening with the kids." said Rose determinedly.

"You're going to break in? How?" asked Maria.

Rose inwardly cursed herself, she, once again, had not thought that far through.

" _If I may make a suggestion?_ " said Mr Smith

"Let's hear it." said Sarah – Jane.

" _In the last twenty minutes Ashdown house has ordered a cement mixer to be brought to the facility."_ As Mr Smith spoke the company details and location appeared on the screen. _"It is due to arrive in the next two hours from a depo in Dartford. This gives you ample time to find and intersect the driver, granting you access to the facility. From here I can edit the records so your identities will appear on their security systems."_ Blue-prints of the house, and ID cards of different guards - who everyone assumed worked in the building - flashed on the screen. _"I can also provide you with details on patrols and a map of the facility."_

"So there we are then, sorted." said Mickey with a smile.

"So prison breakout, this'll be fun." said Clyde rubbing his hands together.

The adults glared at him. This was going to be really dangerous. "You're not going." stated Sarah – Jane harshly. "They have guns, _lots_ of guns, what if you get hurt your parents will never forgive me."

The teenagers looked disbelievingly amongst themselves.

"But…" Luke began to protest.

"No buts. Look at what they did to Torchwood, they were lucky to get out alive. You're not going and that's that." Sarah – Jane said sternly.

"But, we can't just do nothing, we need to help them." Maria protested, her voice getting louder as she spoke, gesturing towards Owen.

"I didn't say we wouldn't help them I said you weren't going to the facility. We're going to what we can to help them in other ways … including…" Sarah – Jane went to a side table where her handbag was and fished out a lipstick tube. "Here." she threw it towards Rose who just about caught it.

Rose studied the tube. She took off the lid and twisted the bottom, sure enough it wasn't an actual lipstick tube inside but Sarah – Jane's 'sonic lipstick.' Rose wearily looked back to Sarah – Jane in complete awe. Sarah – Jane would really trust her with something like this?

"We can take this Sarah – Jane." Rose said quietly.

"Who said anything about taking it?" said Sarah – Jane in mock offence. "I'm loaning it to you and it's a short term loan at that." She glanced at Owen and Mickey before returning her focus to Rose. "Consider it an insurance policy for your safe return."

Rose smiled brightly. "Yes, mam." she said in mock agitation, and placed the sonic lipstick securely into her pocket.

Sarah – Jane shook herself out of the mood of the current conversation, her voice turned energetic and full of enthusiasm. "Now, we would go with you to the facility but that doesn't mean that we won't help you intercept that cement truck. Luke Clyde, help Owen, down the stairs, Mr Smith send the route to Mickey's laptop. Maria grab that Seronian knock out gas from storage, Mickey bring Pete's people carrier around, Rose; Mickey's laptop." Sarah – Jane rushed to the door and grabbed her coat, she turned around, addressing the whole room. "So let's stop standing around here and let's get a move on."

The group rushed into action.

"Now that's more like it." said Clyde happily, slinging Owen's arm around his shoulders.

It wasn't until Owen was in the car that he realised that he was still in his pyjamas. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Here He Comes On a Big Ruddy Forklift
> 
> When: Welll, it seems like five days is becoming my average for editing so let's say five days. 
> 
> Stuff that you can read but aren't important to the story: 10,000 words... yeah. You know it was actually going to be longer but I shifted some stuff over to the next chapter and I think it actually flows better that way. And I also debated about whether or not to keep that scene with the farting officer in the beginning but I needed to set the scene in the castle and you know that actually happened to me in real life :0 (I wasn't breaking to a castle obviously, but I was walking back from the supermarket. Honestly I've never seen someone 'walk' so fast after they realised I was there), so I thought what the hell just keep it in. 
> 
> (SPOILERS FOR SARAH - JANE ADVENTURES) Also if you're wondering about Mr Smith lying, well not only is it good for plot it's also in keeping with cannon. During Maria's time with Sarah - Jane, Mr Smith was actually evil until he was rebooted. Well in the time frame that this is set, he still is. And the last thing he would want is the Doctor snooping around, right?


	13. Day Two, Chapter Six - Here He Comes On a Big Ruddy Forklift

_Tower of London – London_

By the time the Doctor and Martha had returned to the control room, the Doctor seemed to have more or less recovered from what ever happened in the corridor. His face was still red but he wasn't limping anymore.

Colonel Oduya instantly noticed something had happened but professionally chose to ignore it. "Doctor, Miss Jones." he greeted.

"Oduya!" said the Doctor energetically. "A little birdy told me you have a laptop for me."

"Sir, we recovered it from the office block." Oduya said as he gestured towards a chunky, sliver, laptop on a desk in front of him. The Doctor walked towards it and started hitting the keys, but the screen remained black. "But it seems to have been infected with some sort of virus that's preventing us from turning it on."

"Well it's a good thing I'm here then." said the Doctor, as he removed his sonic screwdriver from his jacket pocket and pointed it at the screen. The laptop lit up and began the start-up sequence. The Colonel smirked slightly, working with the legendary Doctor wasn't what he thought it'd be like but he sure was as brilliant as the legends suggested.

The Doctor typed away at the laptop, Martha and the Colonel looking over his shoulder.

"Colonel Oduya." said someone from the doorway.

The Doctor and Martha both looked up. There was a man, a light complexion and hair with a slight ginger tinge to it. He looked to be in his late thirties – early forties, dressed in a Colonel's uniform. He marched up to Oduya and saluted, who saluted back. "Colonel Mace. I trust you had a pleasant trip."

"I have, thank you." Colonel Mace, glanced over to the Doctor, looking like an eager fan boy, and Oduya stepped aside. "Allow me to introduce you to the Doctor and this is Miss Jones."

"Sir" Mace saluted. "Mam." He tipped his hat.

Martha smiled warmly.

"Oh, don't Salute." complained the Doctor.

"But it's an honour, Sir." said Mace, completely star struck.

"Colonel Mace has just flown in from Vancouver to help with the running of operations here at the UK HQ." Oduya addressed Mace. The Doctor glanced and Martha and jerked his eyebrows in her direction. "I trust you've been informed of the current situation?"

"Yes, Sargent Price has brought me up to speed."

"Right, right." said the Doctor impatiently with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Let's get on with it shall we?" The Doctor turned his attention back towards the screen and began typing away.

Martha glanced over to the two Colonels. Now that she thought about it Oduya was still in the control room when she woke up this morning. And she did see him down a triple espresso when she wondered into the kitchen to get food. The poor bloke must've been awake the whole time. No wonder UNIT called in extra help. They must only have one Colonel per country or something and with the demands that the Doctor was always giving Oduya; UNIT must need one with him constantly.

"Ah here we go." said the Doctor triumphantly, as lines of code scrolled across the screen, he read them quickly, understanding all of it. "I thought so. That virus was to access your network, more specifically, your access to global information databases."

"But why would they want to do that?" Martha asked.

"If I were to guess I would say that they're looking for something and whatever it is they need to find it fast. And given that their base was destroyed, and in all likelihood, their servers with it, they needed an organisation with similar access to the global networks to search for whatever it is they're looking for." the Doctor explained, keeping his eyes fixed on the screen.

Mace was about to say something when the Doctor beat him to it, his voice full of pride. "Oh this programme is brilliant; whoever wrote this was a genius." His voice turned flat and he briefly glanced at Martha. "And I don't often say that."

The Doctor's face suddenly fell, his earlier enthusiasm completely gone. He pressed the space bar, stopping the code from scrolling down the screen and leaned back from the computer, his eyes became dark, like he had realised something awful.

"Doctor?" Martha asked cautiously, the Colonels looking nervously between each other.

Inside the Doctor's mind was racing, his anger boiling. Ianto Jones must've been running a search for his missing team mates and the first name on the list was _Captain Jack Harkness._

The Doctor couldn't believe it. He was furious. Jack worked for Torchwood. He was a part of it. Everything that happened, the Daleks, the Cybermen, the breach, _Rose_. He had been there for all of that and he hadn't even tried to stop it, tried to warn them. Surely, Jack would've known that messing with such technology was a bad idea. Didn't he learn anything from the Nano-genes!

"Doctor!" Martha tried again. "What is it, what's wrong?"

"Oduya." the Doctor said coldly, his fury swirling. "What does the name Captain Jack Harkness mean to you?"

Oduya was thrown by the Doctor's sudden change in mood but answered bravely. "He's the commander of Torchwood III, he has been since 1999. He has a reputation for being too… _forward_ , but in all he is known to be a trustworthy officer."

"Is that who there were searching for?" Martha asked. "Their boss? Do you know him?"

"Oh yes." the Doctor said darkly. "I knew him a long time ago." His voice turned venomous. "But I never thought he'd stoop so low as to work for Torchwood." the Doctor spat.

"But you just said that they seemed better, and didn't you say –" Martha said, confused. She looked at Oduya. "- that there'd been less unexplained deaths or something?"

"Yes, ever since Harkness took over."

"So that means he changed it, right? Made it better? I mean they didn't shoot you. You said so yourself."

The Doctor considered. He stared intently at the screen. Martha might be right but he couldn't help but feel that Jack had betrayed him, and more importantly, Rose. He might've made Torchwood better but he was there when the whole thing went down and he didn't even try and help them.

The Doctor said nothing. He pressed the space bar on the laptop to continue the code playing, still simmering. The next name on the list, Gwen Cooper, Torchwood agent. So they _were_ looking for their colleagues. The next name was Dr Owen Harper, Torchwood agent. If he could locate just one of them he could find out what they were running from. Onto the next name; Rose Tyler.

The Doctor thoughts abruptly crashed to a halt.

 _Rose Tyler_.

The Doctor's whole body went ridged, his breath hitched, his anger at Jack melted away, replaced with something that he hadn't felt in a long time. He pushed it down, tried to ignore it, rationalise it away. The universe was never that kind, not to him. _Rose Tyler_ , surely this Ianto Jones couldn't be searching for _the_ Rose Tyler, _his_ Rose Tyler. There must be a mistake. He'd wiped all the records. And Rose wasn't here, she couldn't be, it was impossible. But no matter how hard the Doctor tried he couldn't stop the rays of hope from piecing his barriers.

He frantically rewound the pages of code to his last place, having completely stopped reading the moment he had read the name.

The next name Ianto Jones had searched was Mickey Smith.

The Doctor thought his hearts stopped, he suddenly felt like he was falling and drowning at the same time. There was no way that was a coincidence. The 'Rose' Ianto Jones was searching for really _was_ his Rose. It had to be.

She was back!

He smiled, completely euphoric.

But wait…

The Doctor's face fell, panic clear on his face as he recoiled from the laptop. Martha and the Colonels were asking him something but he didn't have time for that right now. He ran a hand through his hair and started pacing.

If Rose was back, then that meant that she could travel from her parallel world to this world, which meant the walls of reality were breaking down, which meant everything was in danger, everything. He needed to go back to the Tardis. If she travelled through the void and landed on Earth then there should be observable traces of tears that he can track and use to establish the extent of the damage.

But that couldn't be it. He'd been checking, oh, had he been checking, there was no rip, no gap, not a stitch out of place in the walls of reality. Then, how did Rose get here? He had no idea! He ran both hands through his hair, as if that'd kick start his brain somehow.

Martha's shriek cut through his thoughts. "DOCTOR!"

"What?" the Doctor asked.

"What is it? What does it say?" Martha asked desperately.

"What does what say?" asked the Doctor, genuinely confused, his mind focused on completely different matters.

Martha sighed. "The code, the whatever that is." she gestured wildly to the computer screen.

"It says …" The Doctor looked back towards the laptop in a daze. The code was still scrolling through. Ianto had downloaded a CCTV file from Cardiff. Was it of Rose? If it was then he'd have absolute proof it was her. He could allow himself to feel just a little of the overwhelming joy that was currently threatening to overcome him with every passing second. Sod how she got back, … at least for now anyway.

The CCTV was taken from the Plass Cardiff, time stamp; January 21st, 2007, a time that he had never taken Rose. He lunged back towards the laptop and hastily loaded the video on the main projection, ignoring everything else.

He pressed play.

* * *

_Ashdown House – Kent_

The first thing Jack was aware of was the pain. The most excruciating pain he had ever experienced in his life. He every instinct compelled him to scream but he soon realised he didn't have a jaw to scream with.

So he had no choice but to wait in agony as he felt every thread of nerve reconnect to his muscles, feeling like thousands of electric shocks coursing through his body. For his skin and tongue to regrow, like the worst sunburn he had experienced.

And yet, as he waited in unimaginable pain, he was still so glad to be alive.

A few years ago he would've never thought that. He cared for the team, yeah. But he had no purpose, no drive. He was just existing; doing what needed to be done. Just until he could find the Doctor; that's what he'd tell himself. Just endure one more day.

And then everything changed,

for the worst.

Cybermen filled the streets of Cardiff, the whole world flooded with 'ghosts.' People he known from bars and clubs, killed on the streets. He lost a few good work friends that day. Their families devastated. He even held one guys wife as she fell to the floor, sobbing.

How many times had he begged Yvonne not to mess with that thing they found in London? That it was dangerous. That she was messing with things she couldn't possibly expect to control. Only to be scoffed at; "What do you know Harkness? You're nothing but an old man. Now be quiet before I decide that we could learn from dissecting you after all."

God he hated her! He hated all of the Torchwood fat cats. Be he hated her most of all.

She was the one in charge when he turned on the TV and saw something flying through the skies of London that he never, _never,_ wanted to see again.

She was the one in charge when he raced down to the Powel Estate and found Rose Tyler's photo on a wall, invisible amongst the countless other photos of the missing.

She was the one.

She did that.

Now he had nothing.

Now there was no 'going back to normal.' Because what was life in the Tardis without Rose Tyler? Scratch that, who was the Doctor without Rose Tyler?

For a long time Jack seriously doubted that the Doctor even survived at all. Given that he knew the Doctor would die a thousand times over before he let anything happen to the blonde. But what choice did he have but to continue on? So, after copious amounts of alcohol, loads of sex and a few games of 'chasing the dragon,' he decided that's what he'd do.

And what do ya' know? A few months later Gwen Cooper joins the team, and she has a spark and kindness about her that reminded him so much of his old friend. She brings aboard a different dynamic and helps him just that little bit.

And then came that day. That beautiful, _dreary_ , depressing, day in Cardiff. He was walking back to the hub, and, as always, his eyes moved towards the spot the Tardis once stood, wishing, wishing like he did every time he walked past, that when he looked the Tardis would finally be there.

But as always it wasn't, just a small group of three people sitting on the pavement. Two either side of this one blonde with a bad case of broken heart syndrome.

…A blonde.

Sitting in the place where the Tardis once sat.

No fucking way.

He stopped walking. He looked again.

A _very_ familiar looking blonde.

A very familiar looking blonde sitting where the Tardis once sat, being comforted by someone that looked _very_ much like the on-again-off-again boyfriend of said blonde, and another older woman that he was sure he'd seen before when he visited Rose's estate.

But it couldn't be. Could it?

Rose?

He screamed Rose's name, his voice louder than he ever thought possible.

The blonde looked up instantly, her eyes full of surprise, and to Jack's, sweet, sweet relief; recognition.

"Jack?" he saw her mouth.

It _was_ her!

He pelted towards her. She raced towards him, arms spread out. She leaped into his arms and he spun her around. They held each other, just being in the moment.

"I thought you were dead." he said.

"Same." she nodded.

Oh! how things had been great since that day.

He'd found his friends, he had his team, he had answers, he had hope, he had purpose.

Now these guys were threatening to take that. And if they thought he was just going to sit back and watch they had another thing coming.

He was going to do _whatever_ he could to protect his friends and this planet.

He just needed to get out of these damn chains. Sheesh, he thought a guy with his kind of 'experience' would've made quick work of them by now.

* * *

_Tower of London – London_

The Doctor hadn't said a word, despite Martha's yelling, his eyes fully focused on what was in front of him. He needed to be sure.

The CCTV was grainy, the weather looked miserable, somewhere in Cardiff; Roald Dahl Plass, by the Doctor's reckoning. It seemed to be during the lunch rush; office workers out in their suits and ties, mums and dads with their pushchairs and prams, elderly couples eating sandwiches on the benches that dotted the edge of the Plass. This particular camera seemed to be placed closer to the sea, the monument in the middle of the Plass was out of view.

After a few seconds of footage Jack walked across the Plass, his WWII coat blowing in the strong wind. Two women were walking beside him. Even from the poor quality footage the Doctor could tell that the woman to the left of Jack was the one who had kicked him earlier.

"That's Captain Jack Harkness." Colonel Oduya, mentioned to Martha. The Doctor was still staring unblinkingly at the screen, like he was watching the best part of his favourite film.

Jack was about half way across the Plass, chatting to the two women either side of him, laughing and smiling together. There was no sound, but the Doctor could tell from their body language that they were more friends than co-workers.

Jack briefly glanced towards the centre of the Plass. Then, suddenly froze mid – step and whipped his head around to the centre again.

The Doctor's hearts sped up, Jack had seen something.

Jack stood still for a few seconds, unable to believe what he was seeing. Then he started frantically waving his hands around and shouting at the top of his lungs; all the passers-by stopping to look at him. He charged forward straight to the centre.

And then, from the upper part of the screen a blonde woman came bounding towards him, grabbing him in a huge hug. The way she ran, the way she hugged him, her smile, her mannerisms. There was no mistake.

"Rose." the Doctor uttered, a look of pure pride on his face that he only had for her.

Martha's eyes popped open and she studied the woman on the projection intently. This was Rose Tyler? "Doctor?" Martha asked hesitantly, worried what he might do. If Rose was working for Torchwood then that meant she was caught up in the explosion. 

But the Doctor was elsewhere.

Rose was back! She really was back. How she did it the Doctor had no idea but, she was back. She was right there on the footage.

And now he just had to find her.

* * *

_Ashdown House – Kent_

Exactly how much time passed from when he regained consciousness to when air flooded his newly formed lungs, Jack had no idea.

But what he did know was that it hurt like hell and that his ass was cold.

When his eyes had finally healed enough to open, he realised why. He was laying, stomach up, on a cold metal table, in a grubby room barely big enough to fit a double bed, completely naked.

The paint was peeling off the walls; the place looked like what people would expect abandoned insane asylums to look like. There was a rusty looking hatch, similar to that in used to get in submarines, directly overhead. Jack half thought it was abandoned and he'd been out a lot longer than he thought, until he spotted the very modern 'big brother' looking camera in the corner of the room. The red LED light told Jack it was still operational and recording.

Well if they wanted to hide away and watch, then the least he could do is tell them how he felt.

After a few more hours, Jack was starting to think that the method of 'being so annoying that they reveal themselves just to get you shut up' was not as fool-proof as it once was. But he wasn't going to let them know that.

"Come on, come on, and take your bow. Show yourself. Face me like a man."

Finally there the distinctive creek of a metal hinge from above and Jack's head instantly snapped in the hatch's direction, feeling a bit exposed in his current position.

Jack blinked at the light filling his eyes from the open porthole hatch above. A scowling woman stepped into view, dressed head to toe in black leather.

"I'm not a man." agent Johnson stated flatly, looking down at Jack like he was something she needed to scrape off the bottom of her shoe.

"Who are you? What's all this about?" Jack demanded

"Apparently you can't die, so it would be foolish to tell you anything. But I will say this. If I can't kill you, I can contain you." said the woman with a slither of smugness on her otherwise stony face.

She stepped out of Jacks line of sight and he heard the roar of a large engine from outside. Jack instantly got a sinking sensation in his gut and he started to fight against his restraints. The high pitched beeping sound of a lorry reversing bounced off the walls of the tiny cell and a large nozzle hovered precariously over the open hatch.

Jack recognised it instantly as a cement hose and begged them to stop. "No, NO, _NO._ " his trashing got wilder has he tried to stop the inevitable.

Suddenly two successive, rapid whooshing sounds came from above. Jack instantly looked up to the hatch in surprise, but could see nothing but an overcast sky.

Jack waited as he heard the distinctive sound of something large being dragged across gravel. Jack held his breath as he looked towards the hatch in anticipation. He wanted to call out, ask what was going on, but he didn't want to let whoever was watching on the camera know that something was up. There were no alarms, yet. Whatever was going on above was happening without anyone knowing… for now.

A few seconds later, Jack saw the three familiar heads of Rose, Owen and Mickey peer over the hatch. He instantly collapsed on the table in relief. The three of them had made it thank God. They were the closest to the explosion, if they had made it then the other's had too, hopefully.

While Jack processed this, the others took one look into the hatch, saw Jack, realised he was naked and instantly recoiled. Rose gave a flustered "Oh." and turned away out of embarrassment, refusing to look in again.

Owen and Mickey wrinkled their noses as they reluctantly looked back into the hatch. Jack jerked his eyebrows and moved his eyes in the direction of the camera very obviously and gave them a warning glare. From its position in the corner of the cell, Rose, Owen and Mickey wouldn't be able to see the camera from the hatch. Mickey made an okay sign with his fingers and Jack nodded in understanding. Mickey motioned his palm to Jack, telling him to wait.

Owen and Mickey looked up from the port hole and returned their attention to each other, the unconscious form of agent Johnson a few metres from the hole.

Rose noticed the look on their faces. "Wots wrong?" she asked, only for Mickey and Owen to instantly shush her.

"Camera." Owen whispered quietly, looking over his shoulder and down towards the hole. "Tyler can you disable it with that sonic thing?"

Rose nodded, only for her face to change as she realised something. "But if we stop it they'll know we're 'ere. We won't have time to get into the truck." she whispered.

"I know but if they see us free him on camera they'll attack for sure but if we cut the camera first then there's a chance they'll think it's just a technical thing and we'll have more time." said Owen quietly.

"But that's _still_ not enough time." argued Rose while Mickey looked towards the cement truck.

"Maybe not." Mickey whispered as he nodded towards the truck. "They wanted to bury him, right?"

"Yeah?" Rose and Owen answered together.

"So, they'd be expecting to lose the camera anyway. I mean it's not like it's cement proof is it? If we just turn it off they'll just think we've starting pouring the cement in."

"Yeah, that's right. Well done Mickey." Rose beamed.

"Alright well get on with it then." agreed Owen hastily. 

Rose took that as her cue and lay on her stomach. The port hole hatch was small and she needed to manoeuvre herself so she could aim the sonic lipstick properly. She looked into Jack's cell, her eyes still avoiding Jack's exposed bottom half at all costs. She looked at Jack's face, _only his face_. She showed him the sonic lipstick. He understood instantly and smiled cheekily at her. He then moved his eyes to the camera, showing her its approximate location. Rose nodded and waved the sonic lipstick in that general direction, hoping for the best.

The distinctive sonic whirl filled the tiny cell and moments later sparks flew from the camera with a immense hissing and a sudden crashing sound as it hit the floor.

Rose, Owen and Mickey disappeared from view, startled by the crash, thinking at guards would emerge any second. Jack gazed fearfully at the door. The sonic had completely destroyed the camera but it had made such a sound surely someone would've heard?

A few tense seconds passed.

No, nothing. Phew.

"All clear." Jack called up in a whisper.

The whole returned to their previous positions with relaxed looks on their faces.

Jack gave the brightest smile. He looked towards Rose and winked "That's a good look for you Rosie."

"Shut up." Rose said instantly, still avoiding looking into the cell unless absolutely necessary. But she was unable to stop the corners of her mouth from turning into a grin no matter how hard she tired.

Jack turned his attention to the two men. "The others?"

"They're safe. We don't know where exactly they are but everyone made it out." said Owen.

Jack let his head fall on the table as he let out a long breath. Thank God, he thought, before looking back up at them again. "Now not that I'm not enjoying this little chat, but the service here is pretty lousy if you ask me, I think it's time we moved on." Jack looked at Rose who was still not looking into the cell. "Huh Rosie?"

Rose became flustered. She was too focused on avoiding looking at Jack that she'd forgotten about freeing him. "Oh yeah." she said as she pointed the sonic lipstick haphazardly at the chains around Jack's wrists. They fell on the table, making a sound like pennies falling on metal and Jack quickly wiggled out of them.

"Okay," Jack said after he'd stood up from the table. "I'm coming up." He eyed the hatch, planning a pathway upward before he climbed up on the metal table. The ceiling was just a bit too high for Jack to climb out on his own, so Owen and Mickey steadied themselves on the roof, squatting down and extending a hand each into the hatch for Jack to hold onto while they pulled him out.

Jack jumped grabbing both men's arms. Mickey and Owen both groaned in pain as they took Jack's full weight. Both Mickey and Owen then put their free hand under Jack's armpit to pull him out fully.

Rose reluctantly moved behind Jack and grabbed around his middle. It's to save his life, she told herself, to save his life. He was about a quarter of the way out, his bottom half was suspended like some erotic light shade in the middle of the cell, when, rather unfortunately, they heard gun shots echoing from the hallway and an alarm wailing throughout the building. The four shared panicked glances and speedily began yanking at Jack more viciously, but the hatch was narrow and their haste meant Jack was being pulled in different directions.

"Y'know, this reminds me of the time…." started Jack.

"NOT NOW!" the other three all screamed simultaneously as they continued to try and yank Jack through the hole with rapidly increasing desperation.

Suddenly the metal locks of Jack's cell slid open.

The four froze in place, like someone had pressed the pause button.

Jack's lower half was still suspended from the ceiling, his bare arse facing the door.

"Jesus bloody Christ man!"

There was a brief moment of stunned silence, and astounded exchanges as all four recognised the Welsh voice.

"RHYS!?" Rose, Jack, Mickey and Owen all yelled at the same time, as they finally yanked Jack through the narrow open hatch, below the sound of gun shots were still echoing through the passageway outside the cell. Gwen was by the door shooting the oncoming guards, keeping them at bay.

"What is he doing here?" Jack demanded, now looking through the hatch.

"What do you think I'm bloody doing here, going for a walk!" snapped Rhys over the gunfire.

"Bloody hell Jack, time and a place!" called Gwen frustratingly from the entrance of the cell, gun firing.

"Never mind that." Rose cried from the roof. "Look!"

Rose pointed to the road leading to the facility, barrelling down the road at an alarming pace was three army jeep type vehicles. The others on the roof, now; Mickey, Owen, and a still naked Jack, all jerked their heads in the jeep's direction.

"Come on." Mickey called into the cell, frantically gesturing to Rhys with his arm, while Owen passed Jack a gun that he had taken earlier from agent Johnson – still knocked out cold on the floor.

"I won't fit through there." cried Rhys

"Rhys just go." Gwen demanded, firing another round at the oncoming guards.

"I can't." said Rhys instantly. "At what about you, you stop shooting they'll just storm in here."

"Okay, if they can't come up then we go down." Jack commanded, speaking as quickly as he could gun fire still rattling from below.

"We'll be sitting ducks!" pleaded Owen as he fired towards some approaching guards, now climbing up some metal stairs at the other side of the roof.

They were being surrounded from all sides.

"Well then you better think of something, Jack!" Gwen yelled on her last round.

But those on the roof could tell from his face that he didn't have a plan.

Suddenly a loud car horn sounded. Those on the roof searched for its origins and soon found an industrial forklift looking machine, containing Ianto in the driver's seat, complete with hard-hat and hi-vis jacket.

"It's Ianto!" cried Rose.

"Brilliant." Jack grinned.

Ianto waved at them to get away from the wall and sped the forklift towards the cell at an impressive pace.

"Rhys, Gwen, get clear!" Jack called, carrying the knocked out Agent Johnson out of the way.

A second later Ianto crashed the forklift into the building smashing the wall, sending bricks and rubble flying about. Gwen and Rhys hugged either side of the inside of the cell just in the nick of time. The guards barrelled in as soon as Gwen stopped shooting but as soon as the guards entered the tiny cell the impact from the forklift propelled the metal table forward, knocking them back and blocking off the entrance.

The forklift had created a large hole in the wall, encompassing the whole of the small cell. Ianto quickly reversed the forklift so there was room for Gwen and Rhys to escape. While Gwen and Rhys clambered towards the hole, Ianto fired at the guards trying to shoot at the two as they escaped.

"GO GO GO!" screamed Jack, gesturing wildly towards the open green space away from the building while he carefully laid agent Johnson on the roof.

Mickey, Owen and Rose all began to scramble down the roof using the forklift as a makeshift ladder. Graceful they were not, more falling than climbing down; out of sheer desperation, Jack following soon after. Owen struggled the most and fell to the floor with a yelp of pain, Rose yanked him up by the scruffs of his shirt and dragged him towards Gwen and Rhys who were further ahead, while Jack, Ianto and Mickey fired blindly at the horde of oncoming guards.

"Where now?" Owen demanded as guards closed in on them from every angle, the team completely exposed on a hilly, open field, the jeeps thundering towards them, officers swarming the roof and climbing over the metal table that was still embedded in the wall in the cell.

They had nowhere to run!

Ianto didn't need to give an answer as a split second later the SUV came roaring over one of the hills directly in front of them.

Jack laughed a hearty laugh, so proud of his team "OH YES!" he cried in euphoria. Rose grabbed him by the arm as the others started pelting towards the car.

"Come on, come on!" Tosh yelled from the driver's side as they all piled in. Owen, Jack, Ianto and Mickey fired defensive shots as they climbed into the car. Bullets were flying from all angles, grazing the car but luckily it's defences were holding.

As soon as everyone was in Tosh sped off, whizzing past the incoming jeeps, exiting soldiers diving to avoid the incoming battered SUV. The jeeps tried to manoeuvre; to follow after them but Tosh was already five steps ahead and as she floored it towards the closing barricade she tossed a metal tub-like, homemade, grenade, out of the window.

There were a few seconds of delay, allowing the jeeps to surge ahead. But then the metal device rapidly bleeped and an invisible shockwave rippled through the cars, just out of range of the SUV. The jeep's engines to suddenly fell silent and the wheels slowly stuttered to a halt.

The SUV ripped through the barricades like they were made of paper. The others looked out through the rear window at the carnage the little device had caused. "Eletectro magnetic pulse." Explained Tosh as all the other occupants of the car turned to look at her in amazement. "Just something I cooked up."

When Agent Johnson woke up, she was greeted with a devastated base, the only member of Torchwood her team had managed to capture gone, all their equipment fried, and a news from her boss saying that the children had announced that whatever was coming was arriving tomorrow and that she better get a result with Torchwood or it'll be her head.

And worst of all, it seemed the only reason Torchwood were able to escape is because Ianto Jones had charged into the base on some huge ruddy forklift from a quarry a mile down the road.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: I'm Coming to Get You (Also I forgot to mention last chapter but this chapter is the last chapter of Day Two) 
> 
> When: A week... yeah the last chapter really took it out of me. I need a little break. 
> 
> Other Stuff: Yeah I updated pretty quick here. This chapter was a lot more polished than the other one and of course it was half the length.


	14. Day Three, Chapter One - I'm Coming to Get You

"That's Rose Tyler?" said Martha, as she stared at the projection. "But I thought she was… you know… _gone_." she said hesitantly.

The Doctor was still looking at the projection opened mouthed, like someone had just performed an unbelievable magic trick and had completely taken him by surprise. Then, almost like someone had flicked a switch; the Doctor started grinning like a mad man. "I did, didn't I?" he said happily.

Oh no, thought Martha, he hasn't realised about the explosion yet.

The Doctor continued in his joyful ramble, unaware of Martha's badly hidden nervousness. "But, she's not anymore, look at it, there she is." the Doctor held his hands out towards the projection, absolutely brimming with pride. "That's Rose for you, always coming back even when it should be impossible. She finds a way, she always does, I said she was brilliant, didn't I say she was brilliant? If there's one word for Rose Tyler that's what it is 'brilliant.' HA!"

"Yes you told me." Martha said with a weak smile, very carefully. The Doctor had failed to remember that Torchwood were currently MIA, presumed dead, and if Rose knew Captain Jack and Torchwood then in all likeliness; Rose Tyler was caught up in the blast too.

"But how can she be here?" Martha asked. How was she going to break it to him? He looked so happy.

The Doctor exaggeratingly shrugged. "Dunno, absolutely no idea. But I know how we can find out."

Martha played along. "How?"

"By asking her of course! Come on Martha." The Doctor swivelled on his heels and started heading out the control room, presumably to the Tardis.

Martha's heart ached for the Doctor. Already he was the happiest Martha had ever seen him, literally ever. In his sheer joy he'd completely forgotten about the whole thing and Oduya was giving her a look that told Martha he expected her to remind him. Her medical training started to flood back to her; how to give people tragic news. But of all people she really didn't want to be the one to tell the Doctor something like that. What if Rose was dead? He was unhinged as it was already. Look what 'losing her' had done to him, if this is what he was like before. And he didn't say 'she's alive' or anything like that so the way he was with her; the rages, the suicidal tendencies, the impatience, the lack of any sort of laughter at all, if all that was due to Rose being missing, then her being dead would surly send him into a downward spiral that he'd never return from.

"Okay, and what about this Jack guy?" she asked, grabbing him lightly by the arm to slow him down.

The Doctor stopped and turned to face her. "Oh, right." he said, his happiness gone, but he didn't look sad, more like he'd just remembered he left the oven on or something.

The Doctor looked back and forth between the projection and Martha, seeming indecisive, like he was being asked to do some big, uninteresting, task and he was trying to think of an excuse not to do it. "Errrr, weellll, errr, the thing is... "

"Oh, I guess he can come." the Doctor conceded before returning to his fast talking manner. "Though now that you mention it, I have a really strong feeling that I won't have a choice." The Doctor pointed an accusing finger at Martha. "And, I'll warn you now Martha Jones, don't buy what he's selling." The Doctor saw Martha's confusion and waved her off before pointing at her again. "Ah-da-da, You'll know what I mean once you meet him." his voice sharpened. "But just trust me and don't go there. I mean it, just don't."

Martha had absolutely no idea what the Doctor was on about but decided to smile and wave for his sake and held her hands up in mock surrender "Okay, okay I won't."

The Doctor studied Martha for a second "Good." he said, satisfied. "Right off we go then, allons-y."

The Doctor turned towards the direction of the Tardis and Martha panicked. She didn't want him being reminded by actually seeing the wreckage of the explosion. That would break him. "So we're going to find them now then?" she blurted out.

"Yeah!"

"Where are we going?"

"Well I think Cardiff's probably the first port of call don't yo-" Martha's heart sank as she watched the Doctor's face fall. He stopped dead in his tracks, putting the pieces together. His whole body slumped, his earlier enthusiasm sucked clean out of him.

"…But" he whimpered, looking back at the projection from the doorway he was currently in.

Martha moved closer to him. "Doctor, I'm so sorry." she said sincerely.

As a doctor in training Martha knew that you should never give loved ones false hope in these sorts of situations. But he was so devastated and she wanted to help even if it was just a little. "They haven't found any one yet so maybe she got out."

The Doctor said nothing for several painful seconds, then he suddenly surged forward towards Martha. His voice was sharp "Phone." the he demanded, holding his palm out towards her.

Martha was confused by his line of thought. "What?" she spluttered out.

"Phone." the Doctor hissed, rapidly clicking his fingers at her.

Martha didn't know where he was going with this but got out her mobile and handed it to him. The Doctor snatched the phone from her and bashed the keys. He put the phone to his ear and began to listen intently. Martha could hear the dialling tone crackling through the speaker.

"It's ringing." said the Doctor. "It's still on."

The phone kept ringing for a very long time, the Doctor looking a little more broken with each passing second.

Then, there was a click on the other line. "Rose!" said the Doctor. "It's me. Are you alright? Are you hurt? Where are you?" He said it so quickly that there was still a tiny pause before the answer message played. " _Hi, this is Rose. I'm out at the mo but I'll call you back when I can. Bye._ "

Martha looked on, the Doctor was grief stricken. She put a comforting arm on his shoulder. "Doctor, I'm sorry."

The Doctor didn't say anything for a few seconds but then went mad, charging out of the control room.

"Doctor?" Martha called after him in surprise. "Wait, where're you going? DOCTOR!"

The Doctor pelted down the pathway as fast as his legs could carry him, disabling the limits on his muscles so he could run even faster. Every second counted. If Rose wasn't answering her phone then she might be trapped under the rubble. It'd been two days, humans could, on average, only survive three days without water. And if she was injured; well. He couldn't even think about that possibility right now so he pushed it down and kept running as fast as he could.

The Doctor burst through the Tardis doors carrying Martha's phone in one hand and rummaging in his jacket pocket for his stethoscope with the other. He rushed over to the console, switching between listening to the phone with the stethoscope and flicking switches on the console, dancing around the central pillar at a fearsome pace.

Mere seconds later the Tardis jerked into motion.

She's alive, she's alive; he told himself over and over.

The Doctor couldn't land the Tardis on top of the signal, he guessed because the ground surrounding the phone was uneven –not good - so he had to settle for parking it 50 meters away.

The instant the Tardis fully materialised, the Doctor was running towards the doors, he went to grab his coat but realised in his haste he had left it at UNIT HQ. AHHH! He inwardly cursed his past self. Rose might be injured and all his medical supplies were in the coat. He looked back and forth between the corridor and the doors. He was wasting time. He frustratingly sighed before powering through the doors, unaided.

Only to stop as soon as he opened them.

The Tardis was parked on the very edge of the creator and it was huge, enormous. The whole Plass was gone, unrecognisable. The force of the explosion must've been tremendous, chunks of building and concrete, weighting at least several tonnes had been thrown outwards from the centre.

His hearts sank, the signal had led him here.

Rose was _definitely_ in the explosion.

He swallowed down the doubts brewing at the back of his mind as he descended into the creator, continuously dialling Rose's number on Martha's phone. The decent was steep and the Doctor had to skid down a muddy bank to reach the main part of the site.

He climbed over several large boulders as he followed the signal, the ground consistently shifting under his weight, causing him to lose his footing and trip on more than one occasion. His eyes were too busy desperately scanning the wreckage for the tiniest hint of Rose that he wasn't looking where he was going.

He put his stethoscope to Martha's phone. He was close. He should be able to hear it by now. He walked further into the wreckage his breathing getting more and more laboured, not because he was tired but because he was panicking.

He was close to the epicentre, the chances of survi- NO

He couldn't go there, he just couldn't.

He was NOT going to lose her, not her, not like this.

Then he heard it, the wind carrying the sound waves through the air. " _I just can't get you out of my head. Boy, it's more than I dare to think about. La la la La la la-la-la._ "

Rose's ring tone.

The Doctor raced towards the sound. "ROSE! _ROSE!_ I'm here just hold on." The Doctor fell on his hands and knees and began to dig but the phone was lying close to the surface. He picked it up like it was made of glass.

He examined it, scrutinising every detail, desperate for any possible scenario where the phone was here but Rose was okay. He pressed the on button.

Fifty-six missed calls.

He looked at the call log. The first seven were from him but the rest were from Jackie. Just after the explosion. There were only a few minutes between each call as she desperately tried to reach her daughter.

Overwhelming dread started to wash over him. He swallowed, his eyes teary, feeling just as terrible and empty when he had lost her the first time. And this time he didn't have the peace of mind to know that she was out there aliv-

_No._

He couldn't lose her.

Not after she had made it all the way back here!

There must be something! Just _something_ he could do!

He went to get up; to go back to the Tardis, his mind racing, thinking of all the gizmos he had that could help get her out, help heal her. When out of the corner of his eye he spotted Jack's vortex manipulator, lying close to where he found Rose's phone.

He picked it up, looking at it sadly.

Of course. Jack would've protected Rose until the end.

Then, a thought hit him.

A thought hit him like a double-decker bus, shot through him like a bolt of lightning.

Of course there was something he could do. He was a Time Lord after all. He could go back to just before the explosion happened. He could make sure she was okay. That she got out. It'd be risky. He'd be going back on his own time line. A _big_ no-no in the time travel community. He'd be risking a paradox, a time-loop, Reapers all sorts of impossibly bad things.

But on the other hand, it'd be a chance to save Rose. Right now time was in flux, but if she had die- if she was beyond help at this point in time, and she was… under there, then it would be fixed in his time line. But if he went back before the explosion, there'd still be a chance she could've made it out with his help.

The Doctor had a decision to make and it didn't take him very long to make it.

He was going to do everything he could to save Rose Tyler.

* * *

The Tardis came to a shuddering halt.

The Doctor gazed nervously at the door before he stepped out, not just because of what he was risking but also because this would be his first time seeing Rose since they were separated. He grabbed the med kit he had prepared before he set the coordinates on the Tardis and headed towards the doors. He said he was going to save Rose Tyler but whether he could actually pull it off was a different matter entirely.

He'd managed to park on a roof of some retail buildings overlooking the Plass. He walked over to the edge of the roof to get a better look but the second he did a shockwave blasted through the Plass, even from the Doctor's position he was swept clean off his feet, hurdling backwards. He could feel the heat hit his face and the wave left his hearing muffled.

He scrambled to his feet and raced to the edge of the roof. The place was a war zone, blocks of concrete and bent metal. The air was thick with black smoke. The stench of burning filled his nose.

He frantically scanned the wreckage, using a pair of binoculars from his jacket pocket. He kept scanning and scanning desperately looking for any sign of Rose.

Out of the corner of his eye he spotted Mickey's leg sticking out of a metal structure which had been bent and contorted in the explosion, grey chunks of rubble surrounding it. He zoomed in instantly, checking the area for Rose but he couldn't see her. Mickey wouldn't leave without Rose she had to be somewhere near him.

Without a second to lose the Doctor charged towards the wreckage. The fire escape rattled as the Doctor powered down the stairs towards Mickey. He leapt over the rubble and paced down the crater at an impressive speed, being sure to watch his footing this time around as every second counted. The thick black smoked around him whooshed to the side as he weaved through the rubble.

When he caught sight of Mickey through the flames, he still hadn't twitched.

"Mickey!" he called as he closed the distance. Mickey didn't respond. "Rose?"

He jumped over the last piece of debris like it was a hurdle quickly grabbed Mickey by his leg and dragged him out from under the structure and over to a flat-ish piece of rubble; away from the approaching flames.

He quickly scanned him with the sonic screwdriver. But it was clear from the sight of him that he had been seriously injured, he was bloodied and it looked like he had broken an arm. He had bad burns on his face.

If Mickey was in this state then Rose –

No, the Doctor pushed down those thoughts. He needed to focus on helping where he could.

The Doctor patted the uninjured part of his face. "Mickey, Mickey."

No response.

The Doctor took a sort of glass breaker with a bronze, metal, twistable, lid from the med kit. It was filled halfway with a clear liquid. He twisted the lid and the clear liquid began to glow an orange glow – nano-genes. Seeing Jack had reminded the Doctor that he kept some just in case of scenarios like this. He let out half and they soon got to work healing Mickey's injuries, glowing around his body like flea sized fire flies.

Now for Rose. She had to be somewhere. She had to…

The Doctor got on his stomach and looked under the structure that he'd just dragged Mickey from; the jagged rocks and rubble pressing against his skin through his jacket. The Doctor coughed as the smoke from under the structure wafted out. He fanned it away.

Inside looked like a very low, cavern, that dipped further underground; the metal above having prevented the rubble from building up at the same level from outside. He desperately looked around for any signs of Rose, calling her name as he searched for even the smallest movement.

He crawled in further, continuing to fan the smoke away.

His breath hitched and for a moment he thought everything had stopped.

There was Rose. She was lying still as a statue, towards the back of the cavern; old Victorian pieces of brick covering her legs. She was sweaty and mucky from the flames and soot, her hair caked in her own blood.

"ROSE!" he screamed, urgently clambering over the pointy rubble. He hastily pointed the sonic at the bricks covering her legs and they tumbled away. The cavern shook from the loss of foundation but settled after a few seconds. Then, he desperately grabbed her under her arms and started yanking her out, over the debris, out into the open air. He pushed down the guilt of dragging - and possibly hurting - her up the opening of the cavern. "Rose, ROSE! Come on Rose stay with me."

Once the Doctor had pulled her torso partway out the entrance he stopped pulling her by grabbing under her arms and pulled her by her middle instead, moving her towards himself so by the time her body was fully out of the cavern he was cradling her in his arms, rocking her gently. He spoke to her as he did so, wearing the face of a man at the very edge of the abyss. "Just hold on Rose, please, _please_ , just hold on."

She was completely limp in his arms.

"No, come on Rose, not like this, not like this." his voice breaking. "Just hold on, I've got you."

Keeping one arm supporting her back he untwisted the top of the breaker and the nano–genes started to swarm around her. "Look I'm using nano –genes. Do you remember them?" he said weekly, praying that she would reply, but she didn't.

He scanned her with the sonic screwdriver, telling him the damage to her head was severe, not just bones but she'd suffered neurological damage as well. He opened her eyes and shone the light of the sonic into them. Her pupils didn't dilate.

"No, Rose, come on Rose, wake up, you need to wake up."

She didn't respond.

He looked frantically at the nano – genes. They were floating all around her body, like they should. They were healing her physical wounds but what about the damage to her mind? They healed the boy's brain last time; the other patients were infected but the boy was the same as he was before, wasn't he? He looked worryingly at Rose's eyes again, her pupils still weren't reacting to light.

The Doctor was getting more and more panicked. Any other person and he would've taken the chance, let the nano – genes do their thing, waited it out. But this was _Rose_. He needed to make sure that her mind would be okay. What if the nano – genes got it wrong again? What if her personality was changed permanently? She'd be a different person and it'd be all his fault. It'd be like losing her again, for the second time in twenty – four Earth hours. What if they didn't fix her mind at all? The thought terrified him to his core.

The Doctor desperately checked Rose over again, in reality it'd been only a few seconds but it seemed so much longer for him. There was still no change. What if she was like this forever? Just a shell. He couldn't let that happen to her. He just needed to be sure. She'd understand…. wouldn't she?

He, oh so very, carefully laid her down on the ground. He moved his hands towards her temples, flames still cracking all around him.

"Forgive me."

With a sudden sensation; similar to falling when dreaming, the Doctor found himself in Rose's mind.

From the onset it was clear it was fractured. He was somewhere that resembled the Powell Estate. The buildings were obscured by splinters in her mind, making it look like the estate was made of glass and someone had kicked multiple stones into it, creating areas of deep fissures and cracks, which distorted the buildings. But the fissures moved and swirled like grass underwater, making the distortion even worse, similar to looking at the Powell estate through a moving, broken, mirror.

The door to the stairwell was open, no need to force it - doors were a funny thing in the mind. He swore then and there, that he wouldn't force open any door that was closed. He was already in Rose's mind, a very fragile mind at that. He wasn't going to invade her privacy any more than he needed to.

He found himself having to do a running jump up the stairs as some of the steps shuddered and turned to sand as he fully opened the door to the stairwell. Was her mind getting worse, or was his presence causing the destabilisation? He had to be careful how he moved around in here, _very careful_. He'd only stay until he located her sense of self; what some species would call her soul, her consciousness; the thing that made Rose, Rose. If he could do that, and she was okay, then he could fix everything else himself.

He climbed up the stairwell to Rose's floor. He could hear memories playing out around him but they were muffled, like he was listening from another room, where they should be crystal clear. He made his way towards her flat. The memories should be strongest there; it's where she'd spent most of her life. He could see blurred shapes moving along the walkway, like the Cybermen in 'ghost' form. But the shapes were different wads of colour, vaguely resembling humans wearing clothes.

Luckily the door to Jackie's was open. It looked just the same as it did the last time they were here together, before her family had moved all their stuff out. There was no sign of damage here which was a good sign. Suddenly, a young teenage Rose burst through the door, dressed in a school uniform, tear streaks running down her red face, a screaming Jackie following close behind. The Doctor felt he was intruding on a personal moment. He quickly glanced around the flat and decided to look in her room.

The door was opened a sliver, but open nonetheless. He very delicately pushed it open. From the lack of carpet and pink he could tell it wasn't actually her bedroom from the flat. As he fully pushed open the door he realised it was her bedroom, but her bedroom on the Tardis.

He smiled warmly, surprised that her memories of the Tardis were kept in such a personal space. It looked almost exactly the same as it did in the present, give or take a few common memory errors that humans seemed to have. He looked around the messy room, clothes from different eras still haphazardly thrown over odd chairs or kicked into the corner somewhere, little nick – nacks scattered around, photos of her family, and some from her travels tucked into the frame of the mirror, as well as the odd newspaper clippings that Jackie had saved for her whenever they had saved someone in her time.

It was soon obvious, that the door the Doctor had entered through was actually a wardrobe door in reality. There were no fractures in this part of her mind but no memories. No sign of Rose's consciousness either. Just where was she? Usually a human's consciousness manifests as a sort of 'mind version' of themselves, _normally found in places where the subject has spent a large proportion of their life_ , the Doctor recalled his academy days. But if that was true for Rose then why wasn't she at her mum's?

Maybe she was in the console room?

The door leading to the rest of the Tardis was open. The Doctor entered the corridor and paced through to the console room. He didn't know how quickly time was passing on the outside but he was getting more and more worried.

The Doctor's breath caught, the double doors to the Tardis were wide open and the location,

Bad Wolf Bay.

He stepped out, the surroundings were fractured again, much more severely than the Powell Estate. The centre of the fractures were moving, levitating a few feet from the ground, moving across the beach like sci-fi tumble weeds, distorting the scenery around it.

The Doctor moved out of the Tardis and on to the beach. He had to practically leap out of the way of one particularly big mind fissure, that's when he saw her.

Rose was lying face down in the sand, the same clothes as she wore that day, the same place that she was that day. He knew in that moment; this was sense of self.

And she wasn't moving.

"ROSE!" he cried, running towards her, mentally screaming at the top of his lungs. "WAKE UP!"

She twitched.

Once she did the fissures started to lessen, become less deep, the distortion began to fade, the beach very gradually started to become more visible.

The Doctor stumbled to a halt a few meters in front of her, kicking up sand as he did so. Rose grunted as she heaved herself up off the sand. It clearly took a lot of effort, the Doctor fought back the urge to help her. He was already in her mind, and touching Rose's sense of self would lead to a two way connection and that would really, _really_ , be crossing a line.

Rose begrudgingly surveyed her surroundings, like she had just been rudely awoken from a peaceful slumber. She looked around at the beach and when her eyes fell on the Doctor she let out a fed up sigh. "Here we go again." she said glumly.

The Doctor was confused. "Rose…?"

"Yeah, I know, I know." she waved a hand at him dismissively while she stood up. "No touching."

"…We've done this before?" The Doctor asked completely lost, had they met like this and some earlier point in her timeline? Had he done this before, had he got it wrong, were they stuck in some sort of time-loop?

"Course, all the time. - " Rose said with a shrug, confused that the Doctor didn't know.

The Doctor swallowed, unable to hide his fear. What was happening here?

"Rose." he said seriously. "When was the last time we did this?"

"Err," Rose tried to think. But the Doctor knew that given the current state of her mind, she would have trouble remembering. Although, thankfully, they seemed to be repairing themselves, or the nano-genes were, either way it was a step in the right direction.

"Can't remember." Rose said after a while. "That time in the countryside maybe? I went to sleep thinking about you so I guess that was it."

Oh, the Doctor realised, relieved, she thought she was dreaming, well in a way she was. And because of that she was speaking without a filter.

"Rose, it's me, it's really me." he said carefully.

Rose shook her head angrily, not believing a word. "Yeah okay." she scoffed. "You always say that and then I wake up and you're not there."

"Not this time."

"Doctor." Rose complained tiredly with a sag in her shoulders.

"I mean it Rose I'll be here when you wake up. You were in an explosion, do you remember?"

Rose narrowed her eyes trying to think and as a result voices echoed through the beach, carried on the waves. In the distance the sand morphed and rose from the ground, creating a sand-sculpture scene of the memory. The Doctor glanced at the scene, it was difficult to see clearly as the distortion caused by the cracks and fissures hid it from view.

" _Right everyone out. Get out! Go!"_

" _We can't just leave you Jack."_

"Yeah, I remember." Rose said quietly, a little tremble in her voice.

"I heard about the explosion in Cardiff, but I had no idea that you were part of it… or Mickey… or Jack even. By the time I found out you were back too much time had passed, I couldn't risk that you might've –" The Doctor's breath caught, unable to finished the sentence, the thought to painful. "That you might've got hurt." he said instead.

Rose studied him carefully. She was still hesitant and remained guarded but she didn't seem so angry anymore.

"Is that why you're wearing a new suit?" she asked unexpectedly, catching the Doctor by surprise.

The Doctor inspected his own suit, pulling at it so he could see it. "Ah, yes. Do you like it?" he asked playfully.

Rose thought for a moment. "It's okay, I guess."

"You don't like it?"

"'M just surprised you actually changed clothes."

"Hey! I resent that statement. I wore pyjamas at Christmas, remember?"

Again, the voices echoed around the beach all coming from a point beyond the rocks behind Rose.

" _The big question is… Where'd you get a pair of men's pyjamas from?"_

" _Howard's been staying over."_

" _What? Howard from the market?"_

"Yeah." said Rose. "Howard's pyjamas, which you _still_ haven't given back yet."

The Doctor's face fell. "I was meant to give them back?"

Rose laughed and the Doctor instantly felt like everything was going to be okay, just for a moment. "Yes!" she said like she was pointing out the obvious.

The Doctor smiled along with her. But then Rose's face fell and her mood shifted. She began tugging nervously on her sleeve.

"So if you're, really, the real Doctor then, how come you left Jack behind?" she asked, only looking him in the eye at the last moment.

A jolt of dread shot through the Doctor, he avoided her gaze; he was really hoping she wouldn't ask him about that. She deserved the truth but if he told her then she wouldn't want to come with him anymore.

He let out a long breath and looked her bravely in the eye. "What do you remember about Satellite Five?"

The raw anger in Rose was obvious, her whole body stiffened as if she was preparing for a final battle. "So you did know." she spat. "You knew this whole time and you _never_ said."

As a result of her fury, the memories from Satellite five were playing all around her, all at once; her desperation to get back, her fear being a contestant on 'The Weakest Link' from hell, the Doctor's regeneration from her perspective. The memories slowly shifted towards memories of Jack, him kissing her, them laughing just before they were transmatted to the station, him telling one of his wild stories, her asking where Jack was multiple times and each time the Doctor saying the same thing.

"I thought he was dead." she said sadly, her anger drained as different memories began to play, the sand twisting and morphing as her emotions changed. This time it was scenes of her crying into a pillow, her looking longingly at photos, hiding away in rooms of the Tardis.

The Doctor watched on, consumed by his own guilt, but accepting every atom of it. He deserved it after all; look at what his cowardice had done. He had hurt Rose. She had been suffering and he had no idea. She was keeping it from him. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked sorrowfully.

"Like I said I thought he was dead, and I didn't want you to blame yourself."

The Doctor winced.

He really was an idiot.

"Rose, I'm so, so, sor-"

"Don't give me that." Rose snapped, her anger returning. "Just tell me why, why'd you did it? If you are the 'real' Doctor an' this isn't all another stupid dream."

He paused for a few moments, once he told her there was no going back, that was it, she would leave. The Doctor let out a ragged breath. "Because… because I was scared, okay?"

Rose looked completely baffled, her head tilting to the side like she'd misheard. "Wot?"

The Doctor continued, "When you looked into the heart of the Tardis, you brought Jack back to life, but you couldn't control it and you brought him back for good." he explained sadly. "You changed him into a fixed point in time."The Doctor paused a little, bracing himself for the enviable abandonment that would follow once Rose found out the truth. He had _just_ got her back. "You cursed him to live for an eternity and I was scared how you'd both react. I didn't know how to deal with it, so I ran, okay? Like I always do, I'm a coward Rose, always have been. But this time I hurt both of you, and I'm sorry. I mean it this time, I really do, I'm so, so, sorry… I know it's not enough but I am and if you don't want to see me again I-"

"I didn't say that."

The Doctor hung his head, nodding sadly, believing that Rose had just rejected him, like he was certain she would. But after a few seconds he realised what Rose had really said and jerked his head towards her. "…sorry?"

"Me and Jack, we still want to come with you."

"You still want to come?" the Doctor asked in complete disbelief.

Rose laughed like he had said something obvious again but this time the Doctor truly didn't understand. "Yes!" Rose sighed. "Look, you drive me crazy, you lie, you run away from your feelings and never talk abou' them, and I know one day you're goin' to leave me behind just like you did with Sarah – Jane... and Jack, and it'll _kill_ me when you do, but it's worth it…" Rose's tone shifted, it was less jokey and more serious, and she was clearly trying her best not to get too emotional. "…because being with you was the best time of my life and it'd be great just to see you again," Her voice broke slightly. "even if it's just to say goodbye."

"I'm not going to leave you behind Rose." the Doctor said seriously, like it was a swearing an important vow.

Rose sighed tiredly. "Don't say that like you haven't already done it." she said flatly.

The Doctor's eyes widened in surprise before hanging his shame.

She knew.

He thought she hadn't realised it was a one way trip. She was distant for a while afterwards, and he thought for sure she had figured it out, but when he finally asked her if something was wrong, and praying like the coward he was that she said no, she said that she was giving him some space, that she was worried about him. And he accepted it, he didn't push it, because it was such a Rose thing to do, and it put him in the clear, so he dropped it like a hot potato, and after that very brief conversation she acted like she was fine. But she had known all along, she must have been hurting, suffering in silence, just like she had been with Jack. And if that wasn't obvious the memories showing themselves through the sand made it crystal clear.

He looked up at her. "Rose..."

"No, it's okay I'm not angry with you. I accepted it a long time ago. I know why you do it. It's because you're scared, of losing us … scared of watching us age. That's why, yeah?" she said it lightly, trying to be strong but the Doctor saw the tears forming in the corner of her eyes.

He nodded pathetically, feeling absolutely disgusted with himself. He had not only hurt Rose, he had lost her trust. He tried to say something but Rose silenced him with a wave.

"No, I'm serious. It's fine." she thought. "Well it's not fine, but I know that it's just how you are and there's nothing any of us can do to change it. But, it's just the _way_ you say goodbye. I don't want things to be fine one day and then I'm back on the Powell estate the next without so much as a word." 

"I mean it Rose, I won't leave you behind." he said as seriously as he could, his voice full of resolve.

"Don't lie Doctor." Rose said tiredly with a slump in her shoulders. "I already said I'm okay with it. And anyway, it's not like you're going to be wheeling me round in a wheelchair, fifty, sixty, years from now, when I can't run anymore is it? That's not fair."

"For you, Rose, I would." the Doctor said quietly.

And he meant it, _oh_ he meant it. The thing he wished for most after he'd lost Rose is that he wished he had more time with her, just being near her and talking to her. It didn't really matter what adventure they were having or even if it was just sitting at Jackie's watching one of those awful celebrity gossip shows. As long as they were together, he realised he was happy, happier than he had been in a long, _long_ time. And of course, being the grade A dunce that he was, he'd realised this all far too late. But if she really still wanted to come with him, even after everything he had done then he wasn't about to let this chance pass him by. And he wasn't going to waste the time he did have with her trying to run away from the very obvious, but equally terrifying feelings he had for her.

"What did you say?" Rose asked, eyes wide in surprise.

The Doctor got louder. "I would for you Rose… And not just that; bank holidays and carpets, mortgages and windows, take-away dinners and…" the Doctor struggled to think of a different example of a very boring domestic task. "and I dunno… _taxes_ , I'd do it all if that's what you wanted."

Rose was completely shell - shocked. "You'd… you'd really do all that?"

"Yes."

"You'd settle down?"

"Yes, if that's what you want."

"But you hate that sort of stuff!"

"Yes I do. But if it means you'll have me then I'll do it."

Rose laughed humourlessly. "God, I must've concussion or somethin' for you to be saying all this."

"It's true Rose!" said the Doctor, a slight tinge of agitation in his voice, he was baring his soul here. "If there's anything I've learnt since you've been gone it's that I – " The Doctor got very quiet. " love you, Rose Tyler." he said in a barely audible mumble.

"What?" Rose said with a scrunched up face.

"I love you." the Doctor said sheepishly, only a tiny bit louder, all cards were on the table now.

"Wot did you say?" Rose said, her tone hitched in hope. She had clearly heard it but couldn't quite believe it.

"I LOVE YOU! OKAY?" The Doctor yelled very loudly, quickly realising his volume and getting embarrassed, running his hand over the back of his head and avoiding looking at Rose at all costs. He'd done it he'd actually said it, and he was instantly regretting it, not because it wasn't true, because it was, of course, but because now he'd made himself completely vulnerable, completely open to attack; something that Time Lords were supposed to be above.

Rose was silent, processing the whole thing, she was so silent in fact that the Doctor actually risked looking at her again, only to quickly break eye contact once he did. Rose was just staring unblinking at him, purely and utterly flabbergasted, her jaw agape. "O' my God, you actually said it." she said flatly after a couple of seconds, still in complete disbelief.

The Doctor really avoided looking at her now, eyes darting any direction but hers.

Rose was silent for a few more moments, still trying to process the whole thing. "You actually said it." she said again, as if repeating the her reply would make what the Doctor said more real somehow, her voice getting more energetic and happier "I mean, you actually, properly, said it." she continued, still thoroughly floored, looking at him awe struck. "You like really, properly said it."

The Doctor stayed rooted on the spot, every fibre of his will power fighting the overpowering urge he had to run far, far away.

Rose took a few more additional seconds of processing time before breaking out into a splitting grin.

The Doctor looked around as the dreary, grey, beach in Norway, was transformed, the sky became clear with a pink tinge to it, like at sunset, the sand turned into a bright yellow and the ocean became a deep sapphire blue, resembling something like the Bahamas. It was then the Doctor was reminded that he was still in Rose's mind.

There hadn't been any fissures around for a while, they had all healed, and they'd both been so focused on the current conversation that no memories had formed in the sand, making it easier for him to forget. How long had he been in here? Time passed quicker in the mind, but Mickey might already be awake. Then, he'd have to go into his mind too. He shuddered at the thought.

"Really?" Rose asked still grinning like a maniac, snapping back the Doctor's attention.

"Yes, of course, yes." the Doctor said a little impatiently. Rose ignored his reaction and just kept smiling, looking out to the sea, completely giddy.

"But Rose listen," said the Doctor, keen to change the subject. "it saves time to explain in here but even then we don't have much. In reality it's only been a few seconds - back in Cardiff I mean, a few minutes after the explosion. I went back in time, just before it happened, you and Mickey were hurt. – "

Rose returned her focus to the Doctor as her face fell, the beach returned to normal, although the sky retained the same pinkish tinge to it.

The Doctor continued regardless. "- It's okay, Mickey'll be fine, his injuries were mainly physical but your injuries were neurological, the was a chance you might've suffered permanent damage so I entered your mind... I'm sorry." The Doctor picked up on Rose's scared expression. "It's okay you're going to be fine, your memories have healed. But I'm not meant to be here, I crossed my own time line to come here, and that's bad because it could create a paradox."

"What like the Reapers?" asked Rose, fully listening now.

"That's one possibility, yes." Rose looked more worried than before so the Doctor tried to reassure her. "But it'll be okay, as long as time plays out the way it should, and to do that I need you to let me–"

"Okay."

"What?"

"Okay, whatever you need to do, do it."

"Just like that?"

"Are you really you?"

"Yeah."

"And you meant all that stuff you said?"

"Yes."

"Then, it's okay. Do it."

"Are you sure? I'll need to suppress you're memories, make you temporarily forget you've seen me; to prevent you making any decisions that alter the current time line."

Rose hesitated for a bit. "But I'll remember later, yeah?"

"Yes, I'll set the memories on a trigger, once you see me again your memories will resurface."

"Okay."

"But you have to wake up first."

Rose suddenly became panicked. "And you'll still be here… I mean there, when I wake up?"

"Yes."

"Promise?"

"Promise." the Doctor said with a trusting smile.

Rose thought. "Okay, so how do I wake up?"

"Oh, don't worry I'll take care of that. I'll leave your mind and convince your subconscious to exit Rapid Eye Movement sleep by simulating imbalance in the middle ear." The Doctor rambled.

"You wot?"

"I'm going shake you until you wake up." he said flatly.

Rose laughed genuinely, causing the Doctor to smile warmly in return. Maybe things really will work out in the end? She was back now and, most importantly, she was staying... or he was the one staying? She hadn't said anything about that.

"Well, I'll be off then." the Doctor said awkwardly, he paused for a little bit, wanting to know if Rose wanted to say anything else but she just looked up at him expectantly. "See you in a bit." he said with a sigh

"See you in a bit." Rose said, completely oblivious.

The Doctor turned and starting walking away towards the Tardis.

Rose looked on, praying with every fibre of her being that this wasn't a dream, that when she woke up the Doctor really would be back.

Rose smiled giddily, he said he loved her. She still couldn't believe it. 

But then, Rose suddenly realised something. She had been so thrown by his whole confession that she hadn't said anything back to him. He'd actually said that he loved her and she'd not said anything back! She'd basically just disregarded him the whole time, she hadn't taken him seriously at all. And he _never_ spoke about that stuff normally, like _never_. It must've been so, so, hard for him and she'd reacted so passively to the whole thing. He even promised to go the full domestic, her mum would practically be doing consecutive back-flips if she'd heard the whole thing. Not that she wanted that, no she was itching to get back out there. But the point remained, she'd been so shocked by the whole thing she hadn't said anything back to him. The Doctor said they didn't have time in the real world. What if she didn't have time to say what she needed to say? What if he thought _she_ didn't love _him_ anymore!

Rose called out for him. "DOCTOR!" she screamed, running to catch up with him.

The Doctor jerked around, thinking something was amiss. "What, is it? What's wrong?"

"Me too." Rose said once she was close enough, resting her hands on the tops of her knees. She wanted to hug him but noticed how he backed up closer to the doors of the Tardis when she approached and guessed the no touch rule still applied for some reason.

"Sorry?"

"Me too, I love you too." she said, still trying to catch her breath. "I mean, I know I said it before but, since it's been a while…so… y' know?"

"Yeah." the Doctor smiled, and his eyes sparkled. 

"Okay, that's all I wanted to say." she said awkwardly, tucking her hair behind her ear, after a few seconds of the Doctor just grinning at her.

"See you later."

"Not if I see you first." she retorted.

The Doctor giggled and gave a little salute as he moved into the Tardis, but strangely, walked past the console room and down the corridor.

A few minutes later Rose's eyes began to feel heavy and her body felt hot and uncomfortable. She tried to remain up right but couldn't. She closed her eyes and could see an orange glow through her eyelids and the pressure on her back from someone holding her.

Oh please, she begged to all the religious deities and Gods she could remember the Doctor telling her about. 

Let it actually be him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: The 456 (the title might change though, and don't worry it starts where this one ends.)
> 
> When: A week, give or take a few days. 
> 
> Other notes and stuff: Wow, I've rewritten this so, so, so many times. Originally this was meant to happen way later in the story but it always irked me when characters in films and things get up after explosions so this was my explanation for Rose and Mickey being able to do that. I wasn't completely sure the Doctor would go back, but with how he was in series three regarding Rose, I think he would. And the Doctor going into Rose's mind was purely because I'd written myself into a hole with the timing and I didn't want to rush their reunion like it was in Journey's End . 
> 
> Really I just hope this chapter flowed well and was in character enough - and of course was emotional enough.


	15. Day Three, Chapter Two - The 456

_The Plass, Cardiff – Day One_

Once Rose realised she was waking up her eyes popped open, struggling to adjust to the bright flames, looking for the Doctor, her vision slowly coming into focus.

He _was_ the one holding her.

She smiled brightly. He was here, looking down at her with that look in his eye that made her feel she could do anything.

"Hello." she said. 

"Hello." he smiled.

Rose studied him for one more second, seeing him but still not one hundred percent convinced he was here - it was all just to perfect. Before deciding to sod it and pulled him into the tightest hug she could, making sure he was real. The Doctor was a bit startled but quickly hugged her just as tightly. He smelt the same, he looked the same - thank God, he hugged her in the same way. The Doctor was here. Was it even possible to be this happy? Rose had no idea.

"You're really here." she said, tears forming in her eyes, still embracing him, holding on to him in fear he'd suddenly fade away. 

"Course, I am. Said I would be, didn't I?" said the Doctor, he was trying to joke around but his voice had an undertone to it that told Rose how relieved he really was.

After a few more moments Rose shifted, convinced, now, that he was really here, she realised the way she was lying while hugging him at the same time was becoming uncomfortable. The Doctor released her, kneeling beside her instead. He was watching her every move, as if still not entirely convinced she was okay.

Rose sat up, sitting close to him while adjusting herself into a better position. She looked back at him and smiled brightly; that dream wasn't a dream, that was really him. And he said he loved her. She couldn't believe it. Her! He said he loved her. Her smile grew and she giggled from the sheer happiness. 

He smiled back, his earlier concerns gone.

"That was really you in my head?" she asked, wanting to be completely certain that it was not her imagination because it the whole situation was certainly dreamlike, honestly she felt like she was floating.

The Doctor nodded. "Yeah."

"So, it was you sayin' all that stuff?" she beamed. 

"Yes."

Rose gave the brightest, splitting grin. "So, you really love me?" she asked ecstatically.

The Doctor looked away and started stroking the back of his earlobe, obviously a little embarrassed. "Yes, well, quite right to if you ask me." he squeaked, still avoiding her gaze.

Mickey grunted, reminding both of them where they were. The flicker of the flames reflected slightly on his skin. Rose's eyes widened in horror once she saw him, he looked hurt.

"Oh my God, Mickey!" Rose cried in alarm, moving towards him.

"He'll be okay, nano –genes, ones that know how humans are supposed to work." the Doctor reassured, putting a hand gently on Rose's shoulder to stop her moving towards him. "He'll be all healed up in... oh… about thirty seconds."

"And Jack?" Rose asked, relaxing and turning to face the Doctor again.

"I don't know, sorry."

Rose looked out at the destruction. "They were trying to kill him." she explained. "They attacked us in the hospital. Put a bomb in his stomach."

"They hurt you?" the Doctor asked darkly.

Rose paused for a moment, at the hospital; no, they didn't, but even though she felt fine, more than fine, now, the Doctor had said earlier that she had been hurt.

"No." she settled on, trying not to think too much about what the Doctor would do if she said yes.

"Rose." the Doctor warned, his posture suddenly tense, her pause having made him suspicious.

"At the hospital, no." Rose assured.

The Doctor looked her up and down, seeming to understand what she was trying to say. "Do you know who they are?" he asked, dropping the subject for now.

Rose shook her head. "No, but they looked human, they were that wearing black army gear like they do in films."

The Doctor considered for a moment, he could use that information to find those responsible once he got back. He glanced at Mickey, his wounds were almost healed, he was running out of time. "Rose, do you remember what I said about me being here." he asked seriously.

"Yeah." she said sadly.

"I promise, it's not forever, just until the timelines catch up." He said, positioning himself as he spoke so he could easily bring his hands to her temples. "Ready?"

Rose nodded. The Doctor moved his hands closer to her head but just as he was about to make contact Rose jerked away. "Wait."

The Doctor stopped moving but kept his hands close to her temples.

"Rose, I promise you'll remember everything. And I know I'm asking a lot, but please, trust me. If I don't do this now then it might create a paradox, you'll only forget for a little bit, I'll come and get you I promise."

"No, it's not that." Rose said, causing the Doctor to move his hands away while looking at her questioningly. Rose started to get nervous. She just wanted to be sure of this one last thing. "It's just, does this mean we're together now, like properly together."

The Doctor swallowed, clearly uncomfortable with the topic. "Well, I guess we could be… I mean I don't see a problem with …if that's what you want." he settled on.

"Well… yeah." Rose said awkwardly. "…But only if you want to.. and it's okay you can say no if you don't want to…" she tried to laugh it away but, in all honesty they were both really terrible with this.

"Oh no, I think it's a great idea." the Doctor said softly with a warm smile, in a way that instantly reminded Rose of the time at Christmas when he told her he'd love her to come with him.

"Okay." she smiled, positively glowing with happiness.

There was a brief pause as neither of them were sure what quite to do next.

"So…" Rose asked, breaking the silence. "Does this mean we can do…you know… together… things?"

"Like what?" the Doctor asked.

"Well…" she began, clearly very, _very_ , nervous. "Like…kissing…" she spluttered out quickly, only to try and back track. "…or not… wait and see."

"Rose." the Doctor said quietly, with a look in his eye that told Rose, that yes, kissing was something they could do, and it was okay to try and do it right now.

She found herself moving her face cautiously closer to his, him doing the same, the flames flicking as they burned on the rubble around them. Their bodies were mere centimetres apart, their lips so close it was like they were sharing the same breath.

And then,

_Finally._

It started hesitant and shy at first, as neither of them wanted to push the other into doing something they weren't comfortable with, but the kiss grew more passionate as they both realised this is what they both wanted. Rose grabbed a fist full of the Doctor's hair, something she had wanted to do for so, so, long. The Doctor started running his hand down her back, it felt great, really, _really_ … great.

Then Mickey grunted.

 _Oh, Mickey._ Rose thought to herself.

He really did have a talent for doing that. She looked towards him, flames creeping closer to where he was lying. Ugh, they really should stop.

"Doctor?" she breathed, needing every ounce of restraint to stop herself.

"Hmm?" he asked, completely distracted.

"Mickey."

"He can wait."

"I think his leg is on fire."

"Ah." the Doctor reluctantly pulled away and Rose could tell by his face that he was annoyed about it. He got the sonic out of his jacket pocket and pointed it begrudgingly at the flames. Mickey's leg was not actually on fire but it was very close to being so. The flames lessened and stopped with the whirl of the sonic.

The Doctor noted that Mickey's injuries were completely healed now. He'd be up any second. And he really, really, did not want to go into Mickey's head. "Rose, he'll be up soon. I really, really have to go. Are you ready?" he asked raising his hands towards her head so she knew what he meant. 

"But you'll definitely come and find me?" Rose asked, the fear clear in her voice. 

"Yes, I promise." the Doctor said with absolute resolve. 

After considering for a few seconds Rose nodded. She was so scared that something would go wrong. But she believed in the Doctor, so she'd trust him to keep his promise, no matter what.

The Doctor gently moved his hands to her temples. Her eyes rolled back and she started to slump the Doctor caught her as she fell and carefully laid her on the ground. He quickly went over to Mickey to make sure he, really, was okay. He dragged him a short distance so Mickey was closer to Rose and away from anymore approaching flames.

After only a few seconds, Rose began to stir, so with one final, longing, look the Doctor disappeared from her line of sight.

Despite the destruction of the explosion around him, as he walked back to the Tardis the Doctor let himself process what had just happened and found he couldn't stop smiling. He'd just kissed Rose Tyler. The Rose Tyler, the one that he'd never thought he'd see ever again, the one who wanted to stay with him even after everything, the one who looked into the heart of the Tardis and stopped a whole army of Daleks just to save his cowardly life, the one who stopped the literal devil from escaping, that Rose Tyler.

And they just kissed! How about that? He still had it even after all this time. His shoulders suddenly felt ten times lighter, all those regrets that he'd had over her in the past had evaporated, poof, gone, because now he had a chance to do things right by her, now the universe seemed that little bit kinder again. Most likely because Rose Tyler was back in it.

Unbeknown to the Doctor, a sniper was watching him on the roof, gun trained on him like an expert hunter. "Mam, we have an unknown male on the scene, over." he spoke into an ear piece.

" _What's he doing_?"

"He's walking through the wreckage… just… smiling. How should I proceed, over?"

" _Take him down_."

"Roger that, over."

* * *

_Kennington – London, Present day_

Mickey shuffled on the gym mat he was using as a make shift mattress, unable to get comfortable. It was so new he could still smell the plastic it had been wrapped it. It was good of Tosh to have found this place for them to stay. As far as being on the run went a place with hot water, a coffee machine and functional plumbing wasn't too bad. There were even enough studios at this gym for each of them to have their own 'room.'

There was a loud knock at the door. "Mickey."

It was Rose.

"Yeah?"

"Jack says team meeting in half an hour. So be ready, yeah?"

"Yeah, yeah." Mickey said dismissively.

He was already ready. He had been for a few hours now. It'd been two days since the explosion and still the Doctor wasn't back yet!

Mickey was starting to wish that he just admitted he'd been awake the whole time when he had the chance. But then the Doctor would probe him or whatever the fuck that thing was that he did to Rose. Yeah, no thanks.

At first he kept quiet so he could take the piss out of the two of them later but when they started talking about relationship stuff - even though it was so cringe to listen to - the Doctor and Rose were finally getting somewhere. And he wanted Rose to be happy; even if it wasn't with him. So he kept quiet. Then the Doctor started mentioning all that stuff about paradoxes and timelines he started to panic. He was going to come clean, do a big stretch and everything.

But then they started kissing! Even though he was right there! He was worried the Doctor might make him walk like a chicken or dump him on some zombie infected planet somewhere if he broke them apart so he kept still and decided just to keep his mouth shut and hope for the best.

But as the flames were getting closer and his leg was a few seconds away from being Kentucky fried, and Rose and the Doctor were too busy tasting each other to notice, he came to the conclusion that he had to make some sort of noise. He thought for sure the Doctor would realise that he was awake but he clearly had different priorities the bastard.

Mickey swore that if ever their roles were reversed he'd use that exact same line. 'He can wait.' What an arse! It took so much restraint not to take a swing at him right then and there.

As soon as he heard the Doctor leave he rushed over to Rose but it was like she had been knocked out and just woken up. Rose, honestly, was completely clueless as soon as she came round, but he'd been bricking it ever since.

So far he'd just been acting like he knew nothing about the Doctor being here. If that's what preventing a paradox took? He wasn't a Time Lord, but from all the films he knew it was bad. When Rose mentioned Sarah – Jane he thought he might be there, but no. Then he thought he might've shown up to help break Jack out, no. And now it was looking like they'd have to sort this whole brain-washed kids thing themselves.

Just where the fuck was he?

Mickey wasn't sure if he could keep this up much longer.

* * *

_The Plass, Cardiff – Day One_

As the Doctor continued to walk back through the rubble to the Tardis he was so consumed with the events of the last few minutes that he didn't spot the red laser dot creeping up his back.

The Doctor registered the sharp pain in his arm first. Something had torn through his suit, taking out a large chunk of the fabric of his upper arm. It was only after he tumbled to the ground from the impact that the loud pop travelled through the air.

He'd been shot.

Luckily for the Doctor it seemed the shooter failed to take into consideration the change in wind direction and pieced his arm and not his skull. By the time he'd hit the ground he'd registered what had happened and clambered towards the nearest cover.

"Snipers?" he hissed out loud, clutching his arm, blood dripping from the wound as he ducked behind to large slabs of broken concrete. The Doctor looked through the crack in between two slabs to get a better look. In the distance he could hear more shots from the same sort of weapon, and the screeching of tyres.

Rose said people had attacked her and Jack in the hospital, planted the explosive inside him.

They'd let her go. But it seemed they'd changed their mind and all of Torchwood were on the menu. That would explain why that woman that broke into UNIT was so jumpy, so desperate, she was being hunted.

By default, that meant they were going after Rose too - for a second time.

If these people were trying to push him over the edge, congratulations were in order because they were extremely close to succeeding.

The sniper that had shot him down was sweeping the area around him. The Doctor was furious, his eyes dark and scary against the reflection of the flames around him. They'd already tried to kill Rose once, they'd already hurt her, and now they were trying to shoot her. He swivelled around from sitting to standing in a matter of seconds, his face twisted in fury. He took the sonic screwdriver from his pocket while he stood, followed the trajectory using the laser sight of the sniper and pointed the sonic dead centre at the perpetrator.

Well hadn't they just made the worst mistake of their lives?

The sonic whirled and the sniper's riffle misfired, sending them flying back like they'd just been kicked by a bull. At that moment the Doctor didn't care if it was because he was dead or just unconscious.

The other snipers heard the commotion and started scanning the area. Through the thick smoke the Doctor counted at least three more. He ducked away, using the smoke as cover, while inwardly sniding himself. In his rage he'd stupidly given away his position, which was still far too close to Rose and Mickey for his liking. He needed draw the snipers' fire and get them as far away from Mickey and Rose as possible.

Then, the Doctor heard the pained male screams from further away. He spun his head in the direction and tried to see, but the smoke was far too dense. He could only assume it was another Torchwood survivor who'd been taken out. He needed to be quick.

Weaving between the rubble, he charged towards a nearby sight beam and aimed the sonic at the second sniper. With a yelp of pain the sniper dropped the gun and it fell the long distance from the roof to the ground below, landing with a clatter.

The remaining two snipers circled around the Doctor's position. The Doctor had no choice but to scramble towards a large piece of concrete for cover. He looked towards the general area of were Rose and Mickey were. He couldn't see them. But, there were no snipers' sights near them.

He sprinted out of his hiding place, heading in the opposite direction from Rose and Mickey. Sniper bullets chipped concrete and pinged off metal around him. He weaved through the rubble, ignoring the pain in his arm, fully aware that if he misplaced one step he'd be greeting Rose with a new face, and he did not want that.

He dived behind another wad of concrete, one bullet barely missing his head, taking out a big chunk of the wad in the process.

There was a break in the shooting and the Doctor seized his chance and aimed the sonic screwdriver at the third sniper. The Doctor saw a shadowy figure on the ledge of a roof fall backwards.

However, the remaining sniper gave the Doctor little time to celebrate as he shot at his exposed head. The Doctor ducked out of the way just in time and frantically crawled over the rubble to another point of cover.

There was only one left.

The Doctor grabbed a smaller piece of debris from nearby and, while still staying undercover, propelled it forward, away from his hiding place.

Luckily the sniper took the bait and tracked the movement of the piece of debris as if it were the Doctor. In the same second the Doctor aimed the sonic screwdriver at the sniper. The signal from the sonic hit the gun just as the sniper realised his mistake and swivelled back to where the Doctor was standing. The gun flung the sniper back just as he was mere milliseconds away from pulling the trigger.

The Doctor was the quickest to draw in this match, thankfully.

With no sign of anymore, and far away from Rose and Mickey the Doctor walked back in the direction he had just came. All the snipers attention had been on him, yet that other operative was being hurt by something. He needed to check that they were okay.

When he got to the place where he last saw them, there was no sign of Rose or Mickey. He frantically searched around, his mind racing; had they been taken, hurt, worse… or had they just wandered off in typical Rose and Mickey fashion?

If they wanted transport then they would need access to the road. The Doctor paced up the steep bank created by the crater, just in time to see Mickey rush out the back of an ambulance, Rose in the back, tending to someone who was injured, two paramedics with gun holsters lying still on the ground in front of said ambulance, as Mickey climbed in the front and sped away into the night.

They were safe. Rose was safe.

He walked over to the paramedics; they were out cold, one of them having been shot with some kind of rapid acting tranquilliser. He looked down on them, his eyes full of rage at what they had tried to do. Even in the face of death Rose and Mickey had chosen to spare the lives of their pressures. The Doctor wasn't sure if he wanted to be that kind.

He looked at them for a long moment, deciding what do next.

He sighed, he'd be risking a paradox, and it wasn't worth it, not for these two. And anyway what would Rose say? 

So, the Doctor turned around and headed back towards the Tardis.

He had a promise to keep.

* * *

_Tower of London – London, Present Day_

Martha had been waiting for the Doctor for a very long time, almost twenty – four hours in fact. He'd pelted out of the control room and even left his precious coat behind. She'd hidden away to the dorms after the first few hours of waiting for the Tardis to appear. She just couldn't bare the pitying looks from the officers any longer. Had to Doctor really dropped her, just like that? Well, maybe. But Martha was more worried that he might've done something really stupid. If Rose was dead, then Martha wasn't sure he could take that.

She'd tried to call him on her number but it seemed the 'universal roaming' needed to be activated on the outgoing phone as well in order to get through.

Martha was about ready to give the coat to the officers and ask for a ride home, it wasn't like she was doing anything to help here. She was walking towards the door when the echo of the Tardis engines started to fill the room, making her turn around.

Suddenly new fears raced through her. Was Rose with him? What if she was mean and snooty? What if she was dead and he was a wreck? Did this mean she had to leave now?

The Tardis took a while to fully materialise, it started to get more solid only to fade out again and repeat the cycle. Martha's heart beat increased to dangerous levels, so many what ifs. Oduya had heard the noise and joined her in the small office she'd been hiding in.

Finally after what seemed like a few minutes it seemed the Tardis had fully materialised. The Doctor stepped out, Martha was terrified and tried desperately to read his expression. Then she realised, his arm was bleeding.

"Doctor!" she cried in alarm.

"Martha!" the Doctor said enthusiastically, seemingly unaware of her tone. "Sorry about the wait. I just made a – You've got my coat! I love that coat."

Martha quickly broke him off from whatever ramble he was about to go into. "You're bleeding!"

"Am I?" he looked at his body searching for blood as if he wasn't aware of the pain he was most very likely in. Martha was sure it he was trying to play it off. He soon realised his arm was the source and inspected it. "Oh would you look at that, no wonder it was tricky to land the Tardis this time around."

Was he trying to make a joke of it?

"Never mind that." Martha was quick to dismiss him. "What happened?" The Doctor opened his mouth but then Martha waved her hand to silence him. "No, wait. Let's get you to the med bay first."

The Doctor just stood there, blinking at her.

"Now!" Martha said.

The Doctor just sighed in defeat and turned back into the Tardis. Martha tried to look irritated but inside she was so worried. She just couldn't get a read on him, was he just flinging himself into danger again? Had something gone wrong? He didn't look sad but the Doctor always struck her as the sort of person who would act more energetic in an attempt to hide it.

When they got to the med bay, Martha was glad that he obeyed her when she asked him to take off his jacket and shirt and sit down; so she could examine the wound. Her face scrunched up as she recognised the injury. "Hold on this is a bullet wound. Someone shot you?"

"Well… technically yes. – But they thought I was working for Torchwo-." The Doctor jerked as Martha prodded him. The bullet, most likely of high velocity has passed through the under part of his upper arm, from the looks of it, the bullet missed the bone but he certainly had soft tissue damage and possibly some nerve damage, she'd need to scan to make sure. She also wondered how long he had left it, it seemed to be already healing, but was that a Time Lord thing, Martha wasn't sure.

"AH!" the Doctor protested.

"Sorry, I've got to clean it, and - " Martha looked around the, very advanced, but quite cluttered, med bay. "Is there any, like, future tech I could use to make this heal faster?"

He thought for a moment. "Yes, in there," the Doctor nodded to a chest of draws. "Second from the bottom, a small tub, with this circular writing on it." he looked around the room, trying to find something. "And the cleaning fluid is in that box there." he pointed with his uninjured arm to some retro looking plastic box with a green moon on the side, hanging on the wall.

Martha collected the things from the various places and started treating the wound. The Doctor winced occasionally but was silent the rest of the time.

"So…" Martha began, unsure whether she should bring the subject up or not. "Did you find her then?" she asked as casually as possible.

The Doctor looked at her questioningly.

"You know… Rose." she said hesitantly. "Did you find her? Is that why you got shot?"

The Doctor's face lit up as he understood what she meant. "Oh? Yes, yes. I found her." The Doctor started grinning to himself and Martha couldn't help but feel relieved.

"And is she okay?" Martha asked with a bit more confidence.

"Yes, she's fine, brilliant in fact." the Doctor smiled but then his expression turned dark. "But, I almost lost her, Martha." he said, turning to face her with sad eyes. "If I found her a second later I would've been too late."

Martha's face fell; he always did blame himself for things. "But you didn't though, she's okay now, that's what matters." she tried to reassure him.

The Doctor considered. "Yeah, I guess you're right." he said, before his whole body shuddered.

"What is it, what's wrong?" Martha asked in a panic.

"Someone's in the Tardis." the Doctor said, rushing to get up.

Martha tried to stop him. "No, wait, I'm not finished." She said angrily, tugging on his uninjured arm. He stopped and turned to face her.

"It's probably Oduya. I'll go see, you just stay here." Martha motioned her palms outwards, gesturing for him to stay. After a brief stare down, Martha crossed her arms and glared at him and the Doctor begrudgingly gave up and sat back down. Martha tried to hide her surprise, that actually worked this time? Did he used to listen to people before he lost Rose too? 

Satisfied that the Doctor would stay put, Martha wondered down the corridor only to find Colonel Mace looking very, very lost, mouth open wide as he gazed at the sheer size of the ship. He caught sight of Martha and quickly returned to his militaristic stature. "Ah Miss Jones, sorry for intruding, I did try and catch your attention without coming inside, but I have and urgent update I need to tell the Doctor." Colonel Mace's eyes wandered upward to a point behind Martha.

"Sir." he greeted the Doctor.

Martha spun to face him, shooting the Doctor an agitated look. She just told him to stay put only a second ago. She studied him, noticing that he'd changed back into his jacket and shirts in a blink of an eye.

"It's fine, what is it?" the Doctor asked, leaning on the wall of the corridor and ignoring Martha's angry glare.

"Sir." Mace nodded, giving only the tiniest of side glances to the Doctor's arm. "Harriet Jones has just arrived at reception and is demanding to talk with you. She tells us that she knows who is responsible for the children as well as the attack on Torchwood."

"Does she now?"

* * *

_Kennington – London, Present day_

The team were talking amongst themselves; all of them were squeezed onto two sofas in a fancy reception room of the gym that was just about to open, apart from Jack who was standing, addressing them all.

The morning people wide and alert and the night owls still groggy and blinking slowly. At least they all seemed to have gotten some sleep and a wash, even if their clothes weren't exactly the freshest. Now that he was back, Jack needed to get the team back on track, focus them on solving this situation with the children. The black ops guys targeting them and the children were connected in some way, they just needed to find out how. Now, they finally had a chance to share their information, he was just waiting for Ianto to get here.

And if by magic he appeared, not from the rooms, but from the entrance, carrying a large collection of shopping bags.

"Ianto, where've you been?" Jack asked angrily.

"Sorry Sir, I hope you don't mind I took the liberty." said Ianto, dropping the shopping bags by his feet and stating to rummage through them.

"Owen." he called, chucking a bag at him.

Owen caught it, glancing at Ianto suspiciously. He opened the bag and pulled out the contents. It was some new clothes, more in style to what he normally wears, not teenager's pyjamas.

"Thank Christ for that." Owen said flatly. "Here I thought I was going to have to save the world in someone else's pyjamas." 

"It's been done before." commented Rose under her breath, causing Mickey to smirk. 

"Gwen, Rhys." Ianto continued, throwing bags at them. "I think I got your sizes right."

"Thanks Ianto, these clothes are stinking." Gwen smiled gratefully.

"Yeah, top man." replied Rhys happily. 

Ianto called out the others names, throwing a bag in their direction, all containing fresh clothes. The team uttered their thanks.

Ianto left Jack for last. He took a, what appeared to be; coat, out of a bag, but it was wrapped in a protective plastic covering, so Jack didn't know for sure. "And for you Sir, just got it back from the dry cleaners, it's the original."

"Oh yes!" Jack exclaimed happily, instantly taking it out the wrapper and examining it. It was defiantly his coat. Ianto passed him another bag with a blue shirt and black trousers inside.

Thank God no more tracksuit bottoms, Jack thought to himself. That was _not_ a good look for him.

Jack put the bags to one side. "Right." he clapped his hands together. "Now that we're all here. Someone is after us and we need to find out who they are and why."

"John Frobisher." the whole team answered at the same time, causing all the team to look at one another in astonishment.

"How'd you find out?" Mickey asked Gwen.

"We tried to contact Frobisher for help to find you." She looked at Jack. "But, we couldn't get through to him only his assistant, new girl, Lois. She really stuck her neck out for us. Came and met us to warn us about Frobisher. He was the one that issued the order to kill." Gwen looked at Jack. "And it was your name on the list Jack, no one else from Torchwood, just you."

Jack looked shocked. All the others directed their attention from Gwen to Jack.

"But then why go after us as well?" Rose asked, echoing the thoughts of the team.

"Not the foggiest idea." Gwen shrugged, before looking up to Jack. "What about you, Jack, any idea why they might want to target you?"

"No, It doesn't make sense. I mean logically it's something to do with the kids but I've never dealt with something that speaks through children. What about the rest of you? Find out anything?"

"No," said Rose. "But according to Mr Smith, we're not on any most wanted lists or anything."

"Yes, those were our findings as well. Even on UNIT's system we're listed as missing in action, but there's been no other updates." added Tosh.

"So it's in house." stated Owen, "We've – or Jack's – done something to piss them off and Frobisher's trying to clean up a mess we've made."

"Or we know something we shouldn't, something that could incriminate them?" suggested Ianto.

"Yeah, but what? I have no idea what I've done. And all the stuff we found out from our investigation on the children, no one knew apart from us, so how could they know? But they're clearly connected somehow." Jack explained in a slightly agitated tone, trying hard to think.

"Eh, hold up what about those people Lois mentioned?" Rhys added, an idea suddenly coming to him. "The ones that got killed on the same day as him?"

"There were more?" Jack asked in surprise.

"Yeah umm what were their names." Gwen tried hard to remember. "Err Andrew Staines…" she counted the names on her fingers. "..Ellen Hunt" Gwen strained. "And err, oh what was it."

Rhys clicked his fingers as the name came to him. "Michael Sanders!"

"Yes that's right Michael Sanders! Mean anything to you?"

Jack shook his head. "No. nothing. Tosh run a search on the names maybe they used aliases."

"Sure, but it may take a while this computer's not exactly state of the art." said Tosh as she climbed out of the sofa and sat down at the main reception desk and pushed the start button.

"Did this Lois tell you anything else?" Owen asked Gwen.

"Yeah, she said that the government is building something big on the top floor of Thames house."

The whole team's eyes widened and Tosh stopped typing for a moment.

"What!" exclaimed Jack.

"You're only telling us now?" Owen complained.

"We just started, Owen." Gwen replied flatly in agitation.

"Alright, alright." Jack refocused the team, maybe they didn't get as much sleep as he thought. "So this thing they're building? Any idea what it is?"

"No," Gwen replied with a shake of her head. "All she could tell us was; it was big and it was being kept very secret."

Owen rolled his eyes at Gwen's comment's helpfulness.

"The kids last message was that they're, whoever they are, are coming tomorrow, and tomorrow's today, so, that could be a meeting place?" said Ianto with a shrug of his shoulders.

The others nodded in agreement.

"So, we're saying this is a government conspiracy, or something,' then? That they're working with whoever's behind this?" asked Mickey.

Jack thought and was about to say something but was interrupted by Tosh.

"I've got hits on those names." called Tosh as she turned the computer monitor around. The team crowded around to get a look at the small screen, showing three pictures of elderly people. The whole team studied the pictures briefly before turning to study Jack's reaction. He was deep in thought, disparately raking his brain. But it was clear he was drawing a blank.

"No." he shook his head after a while.

The others look disappointed, apart from Owen and Rose who were still thinking away.

"Do you have any pictures from when they were younger?" Rose asked Tosh.

"Yeah she's right." Owen agreed, Rose just beating his own train of thought. "I mean they're hardly going on double O missions at that age, are they?"

"Sure," said Tosh typing away again. She clicked a few keys of the keyboard and the photos on the screen morphed into old black and white photographs.

The look of recognition on Jack's face was instantaneous.

"I never knew their names." Jack said, almost in a whisper.

"Who are they?" Rose asked, but Jack, ignored her, still reeling from the shock.

"It's them they're back." he said the fear clear in his voice.

"Jack!" Rose tried again.

"It's them, it's the 456."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: 1965
> 
> When: Less than a week. 
> 
> Other notes: Sorry it's taking me a bit longer to update recently. I'm thinking about turning this into a series or at least writing something following on from this story. But I want it to be finished in time for Halloween so I'm writing it now and as a result editing this is taking a bit longer.


	16. Day Three, Chapter Three - 1965

_Westminster - London_

John Frobisher kept his head down and his hands together; like a terrified child as he sat in the Prime Ministers' office, having assured him that his team would be able to build, whatever it was they were building for the 456, in time.

Of course Frobisher wanted to brief the Prime Minister sooner but with everything he'd had to deal with, this morning would have to do. Although, how the Prime Minister was going to react to; all of Torchwood having escaped, including Harkness, the 456 were apparently arriving today, and that the Doctor being, possibly, romantically involved with one of Jack's Torchwood agents, and that he and UNIT are currently searching for the identity of the children who were taken.

If he left the room with his head still attached to his shoulders it would be a win.

"So what's the status on Harkness?" the Prime Minster asked.

And John's heart started to tremble. He was really hoping the Prime Minister was not going to ask that question, but it was inevitable.

He swallowed hard before continuing. "As you know, Harkness is a difficult man to kill. Current theories suggest that his longevity is connected in some way to the Torchwood Hub. Which necessitated taking out the entire operation." Frobisher quivered and the Prime Minister linked his fingers together, his eyes boring into him.

"What is it?" the Prime Minister demanded.

"Well… sir, ….Well the fact of the matter is… Harkness survived the explosion."

But before Frobisher could finish the Prime Minister cut across him. "How can he still be alive after that?"

"Well sir… I'm afraid I can't say. We kept -" The Prime Minister shifted in his seat at Frobisher's use of past tense as John nervously continued, casting his eyes down to the floor. "…We kept Harkness in the secure Ashdown house facility, however it seemed the other Torchwood agents were somehow able to get hold of this information –"

"And they broke him out." The Prime Minister finished.

Frobisher dipped his head in shame and hoped that whatever the Prime Minister was about to throw at him wasn't heavy.

The Prime Minister chucked the files he was holding on the table and leaned back on his chair. He and was silent for a very long time. When John finally built up the courage to look up, he saw the Prime Minister looking into the distance, away from where John was sitting, his eyes cold and calculating. It was a few more moments when the Prime Mister leaned back to the table and began making notes, as if nothing was wrong.

"That'll be all John." he said, not giving Frobisher a glance. John tilted his head to the side. There was a lot more he needed to be briefed on. Although on second thought maybe it was best if the Prime Minister didn't know about the rest.

"Sir. Sir, I just, er. I just, er, wanted to say how grateful I am, sir."

"Get out John." he replied coldly.

John was stunned a little, before hesitantly replying "Sorry…sir?"

The Prime Minister didn't even honour John with a response. John rocked on his heels a little before replying "Yes, sir." complete with a little bow and polite smile, and unsurely left the office.

He was just out the doorway when the Prime Minister spoke again. John didn't turn around to face him, he just stood, frozen, in the doorway.

"If _he_ comes for me, I can guarantee you that you'll be the first to fall. That's what the front lines are for, John." there was a pause and John stopped hearing the Prime Minister's pen tapping on his desk. "So I'd try harder if I were you. _Much_ harder. I expect whatever device the 456 want us to build to be ready in one hour."

When John had finally gathered the nerves to glance back at the Prime Minister he had returned to writing notes as if nothing had been said. John said nothing either and quietly left the room.

What was he going to do now? He needed a miracle. The Doctor would surely find out, blame him. The Doctor was a legend, a hero, but of course, that was all a matter of perspective. Once he found out, the Doctor would become the monster that tore his family apart, ripped them to shreds. What exactly the Doctor would do, Frobisher wasn't sure, no one in government had hurt the Doctor's companions and lived to tell the tale. God it really was a nightmare, he'd be dead. And the Doctor would drag his name through the mud, leaving his family destitute, living out the rest of their lives on some crime ridden council estate, living off ASDA smartprice bread and beans, cursing his name until they day they died. His daughters; OD-ing on some cheap fix in their mid-thirties, their whole lives amounting to nothing, dying amongst all the scum of society.

He just couldn't do that to his family, spend their lives living like that due to his failure, every waking day vilified for his mistake, they'd be better off dead.

His breath caught, realising his thought.

Then, his mobile rang, snapping him out of it. It was Johnson.

" _We might have something_."

"What is it? Any sign of them?" Frobisher asked, desperate for some good news, some glimmer of hope.

" _Sins of the past. Did you know that he's got a daughter_?"

"Since when?"

" _Alice Carter. She was put into deep cover way back in 1977 at the request of her mother, seeking to distance herself from the life of Captain Jack. Can hardly blame her_."

"Who was the mother?"

" _Woman called Lucia Moretti. Italian. Torchwood staff 1968 to 1977. Deceased, heart disease, 2006. Natural causes. That's rare for Torchwood. And now, Alice Carter's got a child of her own, his grandson. Could be useful. What do you want me to do_?"

At that moment a metaphorical light bulb appeared above Frobisher's head. An answer to his prayers, a miracle, his light at the end of this gloomy, dreaded tunnel once and for all.

For, this little bit of beautiful, stunning, news meant he could both get rid of Torchwood, and stop the Doctor from destroying his reputation; cursing his family forever, which incidentally meant his original task of keeping the 456 a secret from the public would also be possible.

For, it was clear that the UK government couldn't stop Torchwood. They were too well organised, too well equipped, they had little information or leads as to where they could be hiding.

But Jack Harkness knew all about Torchwood, he knew where they were hiding, and most importantly, he knew how to kill them, including the Doctor's companion. Well, he would have to if he wanted his family to live. Jack was a good man deep down and in the end it would be his team or his grandchild.

The choice was obvious.

And, of course, once the Doctor found out that it was Jack that killed his precious companion, and not him; the Doctor would find a way to kill Jack Harkness, completing his original mission in the process.

And why wouldn't the Doctor think that it was anyone other than Harkness who'd orchestrated the whole thing? He was there in 1965, he'd been working with the 456 all along, planning this the whole time. That's why he murdered his own team. And who was the Doctor going to believe, him; someone who had all the evidence, all the files, a trusted member of government, or, Jack; someone who worked for Torchwood, who led a secretive life, who, possibly, wasn't even human.

And that also meant the 456 were not only responsible for what was happening with the children, which was enough for the Doctor to stop them regardless, but that they also had a part to play in killing his little girlfriend.

The Doctor would absolutely obliterate them, – not him - giving the 456 little time to tell him the real story, just like with Torchwood I.

"Bring her in. Bring them both in. Right now!" Frobisher hissed into the phone as quickly as he could.

" _Just the answer I wanted_."

* * *

_Tower of London – London_

By the time Colonel Mace, Martha and the Doctor had 'quick marched' towards the reception, Harriet Jones was still demanding to speak to the Doctor, who had – much to Martha's disapproval - put his brown coat on, hiding his - still untreated - injury. And more annoyingly, Colonel Mace seemed happy to keep it under wraps.

The receptionist at the information desk of the Tower of London was looking a bit scared, clueless tourists gaping at the sight of the scene Harriet Jones was creating.

"I implore you, that speaking to the Doctor is of the upmost importance. I hav-"

Harriet noticed the Doctor enter through the staff only door just to the side of the reception desk, her face fell, the anger draining from her immediately.

"Doctor." she said, processing that he was actually in front of her, causing the focus of the room to shift to the Doctor.

"Harriet." he said flatly. "Been awhile."

Harriet smiled awkwardly at him and approached him cautiously. "It's good to see you haven't changed, since last I saw you." Martha shot the Doctor a questioning look but his attention was solely on Harriet.

The Doctor crossed his arms and leaned back causally on the wall behind him, jerking his eyebrows upwards and flattening his lips as if to say; 'yep.'.

Harriet shook herself out of her initial shock of seeing him again, her voice turning more authoritative and demanding. "Now, I know you must have reservations about seeing me again, given our last meeting, but if you could put that aside for a moment, if that's quite alright, so we can focus on the task at hand."

The Doctor considered a moment before letting out a sigh of defeat. "What have you got?" he asked in a low voice, a bit too prideful to admit that she was right about this _singular_ thing.

"Thank you." Harriet said genuinely, before looking around at the gawking tourist and non-military Tower of London staff. "Is there somewhere we can discuss this further?"

After he was sure that the Doctor wasn't going to say anything, Colonel Mace stepped forward and addressed Harriet. "Why, yes, of course." He extended his arm towards the door he, Martha and the Doctor had just stepped though. "Mam."

"Why thank you, Colonel..?"

"Mace, mam."

"Mace, thank you." Harriet nodded before moving towards the door, clutching her heavy looking handbag thrown over her shoulder.

The Doctor and Martha followed after her and Mace entered last before weaving in front and leading them to a small conference room, with the same old, brown, stone walls as the exterior of the castle, that, along with the old curved, wooden door, and other furniture gave it the appearance that they were back in time. The only thing breaking the illusion were the overhanging 1940's, metal, bowl, lights, and a bulky flat screen computer sitting on the end of a grand, wooden, table, as well as a few plug sockets drilled into the wall.

When they got there Colonel Oduya was already waiting for them. Martha noted that he was looking much more rested this time, probably because he'd finally gotten some sleep. Mace and Oduya stood around either side of the table by the computer so Martha, following Harriet, did the same but the Doctor stayed back, close to the wall.

"Right, well, I suppose I'll get right down to it." said Harriet hesitantly, sliding her handbag off her shoulder and onto the table, it hitting the wood with a thump. She hesitated for a bit, unsure how to go about her next task. She took a bracing breath inwards, looking sadly towards the Doctor. "But before I do, Doctor, I must inform you, Rose Tyler -"

The Doctor, who had been a bit blasé about the whole thing, – especially given the boring and time wasting, social niceties that he just had to listen to on the way to the room – tensed instantly. "Rose? Why? What's happened? Is she okay? Is she hurt? Where is she?" he asked in a panic.

Harriet took some time to respond, making the Doctor more scared. But she needed time to process the fact that all of the Doctor's questions were about her well-being, evidence enough that the Doctor knew, or at least had found out about her.

The others in the room watched Harriet closely. For them, it'd had been almost a day since he disappeared; running off to the Tardis, plenty of time for some intel, well, as much as Martha thought was necessary. But even if Martha didn't say a lot, his behaviour towards 'Rose Tyler' was enough for the Colonels to realise that Rose was important to the Doctor, so important that he'd leave the mid-mission to go and find her.

"As far as I'm aware she's fine." Harriet replied calmly.

The Doctor instantly relaxed, but then tensed again, angry that Harriet made him panic like that.

"I merely wanted to inform you that she was alive, but it seems you were already aware of that." she explained, sensing his frustration.

The Doctor relaxed once more, grateful for Harriet's concern. "I only just found out." he admitted. "You know where she is?"

Harriet looked at him sadly. "I don't. I assume her and the rest of Torchwood are lying low, which is understandable, if I'm correct to who's after them."

"You know who they are." the Doctor stated darkly, it wasn't a question.

Harriet sighed, glancing to everyone in the room, before looking straight at the Doctor. "If, I'm right, which I think I am." Harriet began. "Then the British government, or at the very least the Prime Minister."

"WHAT?!" hissed the Doctor.

The two Colonels glanced at each other nervously, concerned about the implications. Martha's eyes popped, telling herself that she must've misheard.

"You have evidence to support your claim?" Oduya asked.

"I do." Harriet nodded.

"So, it's like a government conspiracy?" asked Martha in disbelief. "Like a proper, government, conspiracy?"

"I'm afraid so."

"But that doesn't make any sense!" the Doctor yelled. "Why would the government go after Torchwood? Last time I checked the government was the one writing their checks and patting their backs." the Doctor glared at Harriet, directing all his anger at her.

Harriet didn't blink; she spoke calmly, without a slither of fear in her voice. "Because, Doctor, they wish to keep their previous dealings with the creatures that are responsible for the children a secret. Dealings, that Captain Jack Harkness is aware of." Harriet paused briefly and looked away, more like she was talking to herself; the Doctor and the others looking at her. "Although, I'm not entirely convinced he's aware of the fact." she muttered. She returned to address the group and pulled an old detective-looking paper file from her handbag, speaking as she did so. "The files refer to these creatures as 456, but that itself is based on the frequency allocation and not their actual species name."

"456? So you knew the frequency this whole time and you only waited until now to approach us?" Colonel Mace questioned, with an obvious agitation in his voice.

But Harriet snapped right back. "I came as soon as I was able. I hardly have security clearance these days, and UNIT wasn't exactly forthcoming, if you don't mind me saying so" Harriet looked the Colonels up and down. "So, a little understanding would be appreciated on UNIT's behalf."

Meanwhile, the Doctor was seething, his fury reaching boiling point. This, _this_ , was the reason that Rose had been hurt. More than hurt, if he hadn't been there she would've… He pushed the thought away, but the image of discovering her in the wreckage was seared into his mind and flashed in front of his eyes. They had caused her that much pain, over Jack _knowing_ something, something that he probably didn't even _realise_ he knew. And they'd kept this information from UNIT, which mean they had been purposefully keeping it from him as well. With the frequency he could have tracked the source of the broadcast, something he had tried to do earlier, but couldn't because he'd missed the window of opportunity when the children were first synced to the signal. He could have stopped this whole thing by now, gone to their ship and saved billions of parents another day of worry.

"Thank you." Harriet said gratefully, after both the Colonels relented, before returning to a sharper tone as she continued her explanation, as she spoke she spread out the documents from the file onto the table in front of her, the others moved closer to study the series of maps and medical research, as well as a few old news clippings. Apart from the Doctor, who was still leaning against the wall, mulling everything over. "They first made contact with us in 1965. At the time there was mounting evidence to suggest that a strain of Indonesian influenza that was plaguing the developing world would mutate into something more deadly, killing millions in the process. The United Nations was at a lost and searches for a potential vaccine were proving fruitless."

"And that's what they promised you, these 456, a vaccine?" the Doctor asked darkly, everyone stopping to turn towards him.

Harriet nodded.

Martha thought for a moment, before turning to speak to Harriet. "But the thing is, haven't we been looking for stuff like that? Alien visits and stuff? How come UNIT doesn't know about it?" she asked then quickly realising it sounded a little too much like an accusation and became flustered. "Sorry, I didn't mean – "

"No, it's quite alright." Harriet reassured. "If I were to guess I'd say it's because Green; or Frobisher, most likely, have deleted the files from the archive."

Oduya and Mace's eyes widened. "Frobisher? As in John Frobisher?" Mace asked.

"I'm afraid so." Harriet confirmed.

"Why who's Frobisher?" Martha asked looking between the Colonels and Harriet questioningly. The Doctor glared at the group. If Frobisher had something to do with Torchwood then he wanted to know who he was, the Doctor really, really, wanted to know.

"He's the government's official liaison regarding extra-terrestrial incidences, and interacts with several agencies regarding the matter, including Torchwood." Oduya explained to Martha.

The Doctor visibly stiffened, so he _knew_ Rose, knew Jack and Mickey. He thought for a few more moments, going through the possibilities in his head. There was one thing that still didn't make sense. "That still doesn't explain how you knew about it?" he asked Harriet darkly. If she had a part in this.

Harriet was unable to meet the Doctor's eye. "Yes, well" she continued nervously. "I may not be in office anymore but I still have a duty to this planet, so before I left office…" she became more frigid and spread the papers out more on the table. "I may have… shall we say… permanently borrowed, copies of classified documents involving extra-terrestrial activity in case the need would arise." she explained quickly.

The group was silent for a few moments, processing the information. Clearly, it was not as dire as the Doctor was expecting as his expression softened.

"What so, you, like, stole classified information?" Martha asked with a smirk, finding her confession amusing.

"Yes, well. I needed to have some sort of database." she replied.

"That still doesn't explain how you knew where to look." the Doctor asked again, calmer this time.

Harriet sighed and her expression turned soft. "John Frobisher came to visit me on the night of the explosion, it's how I'm sure of his involvement."

"And what did he need you for?"

"He wanted information." Harriet explained. "About Rose Tyler."

The Doctor's fury was instantaneous, he marched towards Harriet. "It was you!" he yelled. "You, told him about Rose, you're the reason they attacked her!"

Harriet didn't blink and remained calm despite knowing full well who she was facing. "No, Doctor. Frobisher came to visit me _after_ the explosion. He had identified her as an associate of Jack Harkness and wanted information as, I'm sure you're aware, there are no records of her."

The Doctor remained tense, almost trembling, and his eyes were still burning with such an intense fury it made everyone else in the room nervous. But Harriet stood firm, having calmed him in some small way, enough to make him stop yelling. "And you told him." he stated in a low tone.

"I did." she said bravely, still looking him in the eye, but then there was a flicker of nervousness, or perhaps shame. "And that in itself was my first clue."

Doctor's expression morphed from angry to fearful in a matter of moments. "Why? What did he do?"

"Well for one he had retraced Harkness's steps far too quickly to identify Rose in the first place and two, he was scared Doctor, of you –"

The Colonels looked at one another, understanding the significance.

The Doctor, however, did not so Harriet explained. "Any person who deals with extra-terrestrials would jump for joy upon hearing of your arrival. It means that the Earth will be safe and the casualties kept to a minimum but he was scared, terrified in fact. One can only assume it was because he'd done something to make you see him as a threat, and since the whole reason of his visit was to find out information about Rose Tyler well-"

"He was the one who hurt her. _He_ was the one who blew up Torchwood's base."

Harriet nodded. "I believe so."

"But…" Martha interrupted hesitantly, hoping it would relieve some of the atmosphere in the room. She could feel the Doctor's eyes on her but she ignored it and focused on Harriet. "Sorry… The thing that I don't get is what does this Jack guy know, that is _so_ bad to blow up the whole of Cardiff?"

"Because back in 1945, the 456 offered us a vaccine, something that would prevent millions of deaths." Harriet's voice turned sombre. "However, they wanted something in exchange for their help, something, that, I'm sorry to say, we gave them."

"What?" Martha asked quietly, fear in her voice from how grave Harriet sounded.

"They wanted a child." the Doctor hissed. "And you gave them one."

Harriet slowly, moved her attention from Martha to the Doctor – who was still looming over her. "No Doctor." she said sadly. "They didn't want _a_ child, they wanted _children_."

"How many?" he demanded. "HOW MANY!"

"Twelve." Harriet said sadly.

* * *

_Kennington – London_

"And you just handed them over Jack!?" Gwen exploded, as she paced around the reception area, arms flying about in anger. She had not taken the news well.

The rest of the team were standing around Jack, the sofas abandoned at the revelation, stunned into silence. Jack was avoiding everyone's gaze due to the sheer shame that was consuming him; the team's faces a mixture of disbelief, horror and betrayal.

"If we didn't go through with it then millions would've died – millions." Jack pleaded, yelling angrily, but the anger was directed more at himself than anyone else in the room. He wasn't tried to excuse his behaviour. but trying to get Gwen and the others to understand what kind of choice they were facing at the time. "They tried to make the vaccine without their help but the rate that the disease was going to spread, they didn't have a chance."

"You could've helped them!" said Gwen, storming towards Jack. "Told them what to do? Since, you seem to know so much about aliens. Why didn't you do something?" She screamed the last sentence in his face.

The rest of the team were tense, but couldn't deny Gwen had a point. Jack always seemed to know more about aliens than anyone else. He lived longer and couldn't die. He'd kept that from them and they wanted to know why. Well, most of them; a split was starting to form between; Gwen, Ianto, Tosh, Rhys and Owen, and Rose and Mickey; who, of course already knew where, and when, he was from.

"No." Jack said sternly.

Gwen looked unconvinced, disappointed at being lied to, the rest of the team – bar Rose and Mickey – seemed to think the same.

"You have no idea what you're asking." Jack hissed, his anger building in his voice making him speak louder and more desperately. "The technology at the time might've well been from the stone age – and y'know what?" He splayed his arms out, facing his palms towards the sky in a sort of over the top entrance gesture. "It still is!" he yelled angrily, startling the others. He looked sternly at Gwen. "You're expecting me to know how to make everything from scratch! Like taking a car to a garage and expecting the mechanic to know how kill a cow to make the leather for the back seats!" He motioned wildly to Gwen. "I tried but I had no idea where to start."

Gwen was silent, somewhat satisfied with the answer and calmed down for a few moments. The others seemed to believe what Jack had said, and deep down they knew he had made the correct decision, which in turn lessened that atmosphere in the room.

Jack let out a tired breath and rested his arms on the end of the reception desk. He risked a look towards Rose and Mickey, who were standing away from the argument. The look on their faces told him that they completely understood. After all, both of them knew full well how difficult it was to help people without sacrificing something in return, especially without the Doctor.

"What do you mean 'it still is'? Gwen's voice turned from angry and yell-y to calm and demanding "Who are you, Jack, really?" she questioned, causing the others to perked up. They wanted to know and, right at this moment, they felt they needed to know.

Jack looked around worryingly at his team. He could see it in their eyes and how their stance had become defensive; they were beginning to doubt him, to lose trust in him. He had kept things from them and now they were realising why. He had done horrible things and he didn't want them to know but he couldn't have a rift in his leadership right now. He needed to put their minds at ease.

He was about to speak when Rose interrupted him. "You know who he is." she said calmly.

Everyone turned to face her.

"That's easy for you to say, Tyler." snapped Owen, his already little patience growing thinner by the second. "You already know all his dirty little secrets, that's why you've been so quiet this whole time."

It was true Rose had been quiet but that wasn't the reason.

Rose's anger flared, clear in her body language, but she kept her voice calm. "No, I don't. And I don't need to know. All that matters is _what_ kind of person someone is an' you don't need to know everythin' about them to figure that out. I know he has my back because there's never bin a time when he hasn't. The same way I know he'll flirt with anything that moves or tells cheesy jokes all the time –"

"Hey! They're not-" Jack protested in an attempt to lighten the heavy mood, but was instantly silenced by the murderous glares being shot his way. Including Rose who was giving him her special 'I'm trying to save you here, so shut the fuck up.' look he'd seen many times when he'd pushed jokingly flirting with Rose in front of the Doctor a little too far.

"I trust him because I _know_ him, cos I've spent time with him." Rose continued, glancing around to the other members of the team, quickly catching their raised eyebrows, not surprising giving Jack's reputation. "Not like _that_." she said sternly with an exacerbated slump of her shoulders. "I mean I know his personality." she clarified. "And I know 'im enough to know that he would've only gone through with it if he had no other choice." Rose looked poignantly at Jack, who gave the tiniest of grateful nods."…SO" she said loudly, returning her focus to the rest of the team. "Now we know who they are, let's get on with stopping them, yeah?"

The tension and hostility in the room started to dissipate and the team relaxed as they glanced around at each other and read one another's reactions.

"Okay." said Owen calmly. "So this deal, what was the fine print?" he asked Jack.

Jack scanned the faces of the team. He needed the team to trust him and he wouldn't let his demons of the past jeopardise that. But as he looked round it was obvious that Rose had taken care of any lingering doubts that had been building up about him.

"It was meant to be a one-time offer. All this time, the one consolation I had was, the deal seemed to work." Jack replied, pain evident in his voice.

* * *

_Tower of London - London_

"Of course they were going to come back!" The Doctor yelled. "What'd you expect was going to happen?! Giving those kids away without putting up any sort of fight." The Doctor shifted to a mocking voice but it was seething with anger and he was yelling loudly as he paced about. "Oh you want twelve human children, sure, here you go. _Would you like salt and pepper with that_?" he roared the last sentence.

"You talk as if we had a choice on the offer." Harriet snapped, her anger showing for the first time in the conversation. "I don't know if you realise this; Doctor, but the Earth has little defences against those from the stars, and even more so back then, and if this is the first you've heard about such events, then, quite frankly, it just proves my point that you can't always be here to protect the Earth when we need you to and sometimes the Earth will have no choice but to defend itself how best it thinks fit. And at the time, yes, we chose to hand over those children to the 456. And awful choice; of course, but the wrong choice, no."

The Doctor was silent. Harriet's words hit him hard. In fact, the Doctor was beginning to realise that what happened to Torchwood might've been his fault after all. When he deposed Harriet, he messed with history, she was meant to serve for two terms, eight years in total. But because of him she'd served less than a year. And it was becoming obvious that Harriet wouldn't have tried to silence Torchwood, if it were her still in charge. But this Green had tried to protect his position - something that would soon be the very least of his troubles. His meddling had affected history, and as a result it had put Rose in danger; hurt her, as well as all the children of Earth. Harriet would've shared the information, and together the other nations would've had more of a chance to find a way to stop the 456, whoever they really were.

Harriet studied the Doctor for a moment, realising that she may have hit a nerve. She calmed down and continued. "Nevertheless, the fact of the matter is the 456 have returned and given the scale of what they're doing I think it's rather safe to assume that they want far more children this time around."

"I agree." added Oduya.

Martha was watching the conversation play out when one of the photos that Harriet had spread out on the table caught her eye. She didn't notice it at first because it was partially hidden behind an old newspaper clipping. "Hold on." she announced. "Is that Jack Harkness?" she asked pulling the old photo into full view. "But he looks exactly the same how is that possible?" She looked towards the Doctor for answers but he was too lost in his thoughts to realise he was being spoken to.

"Jack Harkness possesses regenerative abilities, it's why Frobisher felt it necessary to destroy the Torchwood hub in its entirety." Harriet answered instead, before looking at the papers on the table. "But this should be enough evidence for UNIT to make formal arrests, allowing the United Nations to take over the negotiations."

"Arrest!?" said the Doctor suddenly, seemingly shocked by the idea. "No, no, no." he laughed, but it was humourless, shaking his head in disbelief as he did. "They've risked the lives of millions of children, they tried to have people killed just so they could cover their own back, they hurt Rose." he said darkly. "' _Arrest_ ' isn't good enough."

Harriet was calm as ever. "I realised your frustrations Doctor but you can't just go charging in. The 456 are due to arrive today -"

At the mention of this fact the Doctor's eye's bulged in surprise. "They're arriving today?" asked the Doctor, looking between them in shock.

"Yeah." said Martha hesitantly. "Last night all the kids said 'We are coming tomorrow' and tomorrow's today."

"What!? How long has it been since I was here last?" The Doctor asked, voice riddled with panic. He was meant to have arrived just a few seconds after he left for the explosion.

"About a day, day and a half." Martha answered. "Why?"

His breathing was getting heavier. "What? So I've been gone…" he said meekly.

"For over a day." she confirmed, nervously.

Suddenly the Doctor flew into a rage, kicking the closest chairs next to him. Martha and the Colonels flinched at his rage but Harriet didn't seem fazed at all.

"NO! Stupid machine." His kicking weakened as he spoke. "Why do you never take me where I want to go!" He put the last of his energy into the one last kick to a poor piece of unsuspecting furniture, which flew across to the other side of the room.

The Doctor stopped and started pacing instead, ignoring everyone else in the room. He ran his hand through his hair in agitation. It'd had been more than a day since he'd left. An extra twenty-four hours of unnecessary time where Rose had been waiting for him. He'd broke his promise… already! Now it would be even harder to track her down. What if Frobisher had already got to them? Harriet said she was okay? But what did that even mean? Martha hadn't said anything, so there'd been no other attempt. Where would Rose and Mickey go? Probably wherever Jack told them to go, but he had no idea where that was! And what about the 456, they'd had more time to get everything ready now. It was clear they wanted more children, millions even, but what for? It couldn't be just to hook children up to transmitters, there had to be another reason; slavery? food? pets? so many possibilities and none of it pleasant. He'd lost a day of trying to figure it out, but he couldn't go back now he'd already become part of established events. 

"Doctor?" Martha called, concerned. "What is it? What's wrong?"

The Doctor took a ragged breath in and forced himself to refocus. "Doesn't matter, too late now." he said flatly.

Harriet and the Colonels shared worrying glances to each other.

"Are you sure, Doctor?" Harriet asked.

"Yes." he hissed.

Harriet looked him up and down. She knew it was a lie. He was losing it. And Harriet was pretty certain she knew why. "Doctor." Harriet said in a motherly sort of voice. "If the memory of Downing Street serves - "

The Doctor winced at the topic and quickly looked away from the group.

Harriet continued, ignoring the Doctor's obvious distress. "Then Rose would want you save the Earth, and I'm sure that's what she, and the rest of Torchwood, will be doing at this present time." Her voice turned sterner, but not angry, more leader like. "That being said, it is of the upmost importance that we have John Frobisher and Green arrested officially, so UNIT can officially take over the negotiations without any challenges from the other nations, preferably before the 456 arrive, otherwise we risk a diplomatic nightmare that will cause rifts for years to come. And besides we still need to question them, at this moment in time we don't know if they are in direct communication with the 456 or simply acting on their own for their own interests."

The Doctor thought for a long moment. "Fine." he said distastefully, turning back to face Harriet. "Where's Frobisher's office?"

Harriet opened her mouth to speak but then stopped as she realised she didn't actually know.

"2 Marsham St, Westminster, floor 3, international incidents, office A6." Oduya answered.

"Let's go." said the Doctor turning to leave the room. The absolute last shred of his patience gone after his agreement for Frobisher's and Green's 'arrest.' Although, in his opinion, that meant that after the 456 were dealt with - and he _would_ deal with them – that Frobisher and Green were fair game.

Colonel Oduya and Mace understood what the Doctor was suggesting but he couldn't quite believe it. They glanced to Martha who simply shrugged just as confused as them.

"Sir?" Mace called, jogging out of the room, only to see the Doctor's back as he powered through the corridor.

"Let's go!" the Doctor said more impatiently, making it clear he meant them, not slowing down or turning around; already halfway down the corridor. His mind racing as he tried to narrow down what exactly he was going do once he got there.

The Doctor hadn't said anything about Harriet but Martha gave Harriet a stern 'come on' look as she moved to follow the Doctor out the room and saw Harriet still hadn't moved. As far as Martha was concerned, Harriet had been the only one she'd ever seen who was able to stand up to the Doctor like that as well as snap him back into rational thinking. And given his current state of mind, Harriet was going to be needed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Miscalculation 
> 
> When: I'm aiming for Sunday, but maybe Tuesday. 
> 
> Other notes: Yeah, Frobisher really is morphing into the villain. I think he would though with the extra pressure from Torchwood and the Doctor. In the original, he kills his family but if he just went against Green, then it'd be fine. He might be charged or whatever but his children wouldn't be given to the 456. So either, he was so consumed with completing his task that he just couldn't see disobeying as an option. Or he did it because his family being exposed to his failures in the aftermath, he saw as equally horrible to handing them over to the 456, which is pretty f*cked up. That's my opinion on it anyway.


	17. Day Three, Chapter Four - Miscalculation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little warning: there's a bit about a dead body, it's not too bad, but just to be safe.

_Kennington – London_

Jack was deep in thought, sitting on the arm of one of the two sofas in the main reception area they were using as a hub. Luckily, it seemed the team had recovered from what he'd told them about his involvement with the 456 and they were fully focused on solving the problem at hand. Once this was over, he wouldn't tell them everything but he'd make an effort to be more forthcoming. They deserved that much.

But, for now, the goal was stopping the 456.

Gwen had found that 'Timothy McCarthy' was actually Clem McDonald, one of the original children, who was, somehow, left behind. And not only that, he seemed to have developed some sort of special ability as a result.

Owen and Mickey had found out that there were a lot more deaths linked to the 456 than just Liam Kane. They all seem to have been killed just after stealing something from their workplace. Then for all the stolen items to be moved, by vans, which belonged to a company called 'Noble Earth Construction.' The obvious theory would be that the 456 were using these items to build something. But if what Lois told Gwen was true; why bother with stealing something when they could just ask the government to build it for them?

Questions, questions.

And then there was the government itself, John Frobisher. The guy he had to thank for his worse death yet. The guy who hunted his team. He needed to convince him to let Torchwood help. But after doing what he did to the hub, Jack wasn't going to put anyone in harm's way but himself.

Jack snapped himself out of it, and when he did he noticed all the team were looking to him to tell them what to do next. He clapped his hands together. "Alright listen up." The team jerked in surprise at his sudden movement. "We need to find out what they were planning to do with all that stuff that they got our 'zombie' vics to steal. Tosh, I know it's a long shot, but anyway you could put together a search engine that'll tell us what the components could be used for?"

"Maybe if I had all the information but we've not been able to identify all of the stolen items. Most of the victims' workplaces are large corporations; it's easy for items to get lost. And that's assuming we've identified all the victims of the 456 mind control, there still could be more that we don't know about."

Jack nodded. "Worth a try." Then his voice became more enthusiastic. "In that case we'll have to do this the old fashioned way." He pointed with both hands in Mickey and Owen's general direction. "Mickey, Owen, head to the company's warehouse." His face fell as he realised something and turned to Tosh. "That is the only one right?"

"Yes." Tosh replied with confidence. "I've triple checked the records, that's their only company building."

Jack snapped his attention back to Mickey and Owen. "Great, so Mickey and Owen head to the warehouse. See if you can find any clue as to what they were building. From the looks of things it seems the 456 need our help to build their little gadgets." said Jack before his voice turned more playful and sarcastic. "Hey you never know there might find a blueprint or a step by step instruction manual."

Mickey scoffed. "As if we're ever that lucky."

Jack pretended to be disappointed as he slumped his shoulders. "Forever the pessimist."

Jack then whirled to face Ianto. "Ianto." Then Rose. "Rosie, you two head to the owner's house. This Blake Peters must know something about his exotic financiers. If he's not there check out the house. Look for secret rooms, hidden draws, any clue that could help us find out what they needed this stuff for." Rose and Ianto nodded.

Jack whirled again to face Gwen. "Gwen." Then, Jack turned to face Rhys, suddenly looking a bit unsure. "I can't believe I'm going to say this but, Rhys."

Rhys's eyes popped in surprised. "Me?"

"That's what I said."

"Oh, you're bloody kidding." Rhys protested. Gwen was about to add something, from her expression it was going to be something trying to convince Jack not to let Rhys go.

"Look," said Jack, silencing Gwen before she could speak. "We need all the help we can get on this one. It's not as risky as the other missions, and I'm not sure how much Gwen should be doing in her condition."

Rhys was floored. "Her condition…?" His voice sharpened, his anger obvious. "So you knew before me!"

Gwen tried to cut in to explain but Owen beat her to it. "Oh get over it. She scanned herself in the hub and we all just happened to wonder in, alright."

Rhys was clearly still angry but calmed himself and relaxed. "So, what do you want me to do?" he asked Jack, letting his arms fall to his sides in defeat.

Jack grinned. "That'a boy." he said playfully, before continuing in his usual leader-ish tone. "I want you with Gwen, track down Clem McDonald, he's still connected to whatever signal the 456 are using on the children. He could hold the key to creating a counter signal of some kind or at least tell us more about how to block it. If we can do that it means the 456 can't hold the whole of Earth's children up for ransom once we confront them at Thames House."

Rhys considered for a few moments, then nodded.

"Great, Tosh, stay here keep everyone in the loop."

Tosh nodded.

"What about you?" Ianto asked.

"I've got a meeting with Frobisher."

The feeling of alarm that rippled through the team was obvious as they all blurted out their misgivings about the idea.

Jack held his hands up, silencing all of them. "Alright, alright! Look, I don't mean a face to face meeting." he clarified calmly. "But I _am_ going to speak with him. We need a way into Thames house and since they've gone off radar, we don't have any way to see what they've built in there, if we can get in we might be able to learn more about them."

"But you can't trust Frobisher, Jack!" Gwen protested.

"No. But he went this far to try and keep us quiet so I'm betting he wants to keep it that way."

The team seemed satisfied with his plan and settled so Jack continued, addressing all of them, his voice stern. "But all of you remember, Frobisher is still after us and we can't afford to be caught. Keep your heads down, don't do anything to draw attention to yourself. Stay alert, and watch each other's backs. **Be careful**." Jack looked around at each member of the team as he said the last sentence, checking that they were taking his warning seriously, thankfully, they all were. "Okay let's move out." said Jack with a wave of his hand, causing the rest of the team to spring into action, apart from Rhys who just danced on the spot, unable to decide which direction to go in, before being motioned over to one of the studios by Gwen.

* * *

_Thames House – London_

Frobisher was showing the Prime Minister around the facility they had built to the 456's specifications. All the work was complete but because he had been so busy with Torchwood he'd only had a chance go inside this once. Unfortunately, that meant having to rely on Dekker to show the Prime Minister around.

The area was set out like a courtroom, or meeting room of some kind. There was a huge glass box at the front of the room, air-tight and bolted with large metal rivets. A few rows of tables and chairs ran, like a semicircle, around the box. There were microphones on the tables, almost like an ambassador's meeting but Frobisher knew this meeting would be far from diplomatic.

There was only one thing left to do; pump the chamber full of toxic gas.

"What is that?" the Prime Minister asked.

"As per the 456 instructions. A combination of twenty five percent nitrosyl chloride, twenty two percent hydrogen chloride, twenty percent nitrogen, twelve percent fluorine, nine percent hydrogen cyanide, six percent acetone, six percent phosgene. In short, poison." said Dekker.

The four of them; Frobisher, the Prime Minister, Bridget and Dekker watched the gas slowly fill the glass chamber. The gas was so dense it made it impossible to see through the clear glass, like a thick storm cloud. As if this whole ordeal could get any more ominous.

"And that's what they breathe?" The Prime Minister asked Dekker.

"Breath, eat, who knows. We know nothing about them." replied Dekker.

"I see. And do we have any indication on when or how they'll be arriving." the Prime Minister asked, still observing the thick fog.

"Nothing." replied Dekker.

"Right," began the Prime Minister. "I have a county to address. Keep me informed of any progress."

"Right – O." replied Dekker, far too happily. "Sir." Frobisher replied sheepishly, as he watch the Prime Minister walk away.

Green was still furious at him about Torchwood. Frobisher just needed Jack to contact him. Once he did that then he could put his plan into motion that would solve everything. It had too, because otherwise there would be only one other alternative.

His phone rang, it was his wife. Oh God, she'd be so angry. It'd been so long since he'd contacted her. He walked to the side of the room for some privacy. "I was gonna phone you. God, I wish I was home right now. Look, just tell the girls that there's nothing to worry about."

But it wasn't his wife's voice but the familiar American accent of Jack Harkness. " _Oh, I'll tell them that, Johnny boy. I'll tell them that their father tried to have me killed, how about that?"_

John could not disguise the sheer panic in his voice. "That's my wife's phone. How did you get my wife's phone?" he demanded.

Jack ignored his question. " _It's 1965, isn't it? All of this because of 1965. They've come back and you just had to tie up the loose ends before the whole world started asking questions."_

"Yes." Frobisher admitted.

" _And you came after my team."_ Frobisher could hear the venom in Jack's voice. _"You couldn't risk the fact that I might've told them. All of us dead so no one could say anything, is that it?"_

"Yes. We had no choice."

" _Yeah, you did_." Jack said bluntly, disgust clear in his voice. _"Well, I've got a choice. Do you want to hear my choice? We could blow this thing sky high. We could tell the world, unless you get us into Thames House. We demand to talk to the 456 ourselves. Think about it. The fact that they've come back proves that they can't be trusted. You need us."_

Frobisher kept his voice cold, he couldn't give away how desperate he was. He needed to be intimidating. "Captain, we have your daughter and grandson. Alice and Steven Carter in our custody."

" _You_ _ **what**_ _?"_ Jack hissed through the other line.

"I promise, nothing will happen to them. I absolutely promise. As long as you do exactly as I say within the allotted time."

" _What do you want?"_ Jack spat.

"You have 24 hours to eliminate the remaining agents of Torchwood-"

" _WHAT_!"

"- and deliver their bodies to Ashdown house. If you keep quiet we'll release your family unharmed."

Frobisher could tell Jack was rattled, which meant he was taking his threat seriously. Good.

" _Do you have any idea what you're asking me to do_?" his hissed.

"Like I said you have 24 hours." Frobisher replied.

" _Yeah? Well, how about I go back into that house right now and get your wife? And your children?"_ Jack seethed.

"Except you won't, because you're a better man than me. I'm sorry, Jack." said Frobisher, hanging up the phone.

He said the truth, he was sorry. But it was a dog-eat-dog world out there and he was going to do anything he needed to, to keep his family safe and secure. Now all Jack needed to do is fulfil his part of the deal.

* * *

_Deptford – London_

Mickey and Owen stepped off the bus and watched as it drove off - Torchwood III wasn't exactly in the position to be picky about transportation at this moment in time. It was a typical South London street, post war window shops lined a single traffic road, takeaways, specialist shops and the odd Tesco express, along with that city stink that just never seemed to go away. Mickey was wearing big sunglasses in an attempt to shield his identity, which Owen found to be ridiculous.

"Where here to search a warehouse, not rob a bank."

Mickey swiftly looked either side of the street. "Easy for you to say. You didn't grow up ten minutes down the road. What if I get recognised?"

"Then just say you're busy and get on with it."

"I'm supposed to be dead."

Owen scrunched up his face. "What?"

"The battle at Canary Wharf; I was declared dead, and I didn't call up to correct it. What I'm I suppose to say? Hiya Steve-o I haven't seen you since my funeral, how ya bin?"

Owen was silent for a few moments then shook himself out of it. "Well maybe if you didn't lead such a confusing fucking life you wouldn't have this problem would you?"

Mickey pulled his jumper over his face. "It's not like I do it on purpose." he argued. "Now ask Tosh where we go from here."

Owen tutted and rolled his eyes before speaking into a com-piece in his ear. "Tosh…"

"Yeah I heard you. Walk down the main high-street, then follow Reginald Road to Creekside and the warehouse should be on your right."

"Right, thanks." said Owen into the com, before turning to Mickey. "Creekside. Know where that is?"

Mickey thought for a bit. "Yeah this way."

Sure enough, about twenty minutes later they reached the entrance to the warehouse. The building was old and in disrepair. It was surrounded by a brick wall, the same sandy coloured, type of bricks used for the warehouse. The wall was cracked and had chunks missing in various places. The top was wrapped in rusting barbed wire that seemed to be better at catching the stray plastic bag than keeping people from climbing over it.

Mickey and Owen approached the lopsided metal gate acting as the entrance. It was padlocked. They both looked down a different end of the street, before nodding at each other and Owen crouched to the padlocks level and starting jimmying the lock, while Mickey acted as lookout. After a few moments, it popped open with a satisfying click.

In the bright summer morning it was easy to see the contents of the warehouse's outdoor yard; it was messy with bits of equipment left out to rust, the only things that seemed relatively well-kept where the three white transit vans parked next to each other, but even then they could do with a wash.

Mickey approached one of the vans and ran his hand across the logo printed on the side. "Same van from the CCTV in Liam Kane's case."

Meanwhile Owen had gone further into the yard, towards the remaining two vans. He studied the registration plates and checked something on his phone. "Yeah, these plates match the CCTV images Tosh found from some of the other deaths."

Mickey walked round to the back of the van and studied the lock. On the estate, if the thieves didn't have access to a crowbar they would just smash one of the windows and unlock the back of the van from the dash instead. And a rusted spanner on the ground looked like the perfect thing for the job. He walked over to pick it up and nudged his head towards the warehouse door. Owen understood and held his hand over his weapon and looked in anticipation at the entrance.

Once Owen was in position Mickey smashed the window open and pulled the lock on the window. They both braced for someone… or something to come charging towards them from the warehouse.

But there was nothing. Not even an alarm on the van.

Mickey quickly opened the front van door; so he could pull the leaver under the seat and open the back door. But that action died a quick death once the stench from the van hit him. He wrinkled his nose in disgust and jerked away from the van, fanning away the putrid aroma. "God, that reeks."

The smell travelled down wind and quickly found Owen, whose reaction mirrored Mickeys.

"Decomp." Owen stated, recovering quicker than Mickey and peering into the front of the van, looking for any indication of the source but he couldn't see anything obvious. "It must be coming from the back. You open the door, I'll take a look."

Mickey nodded, only half paying attention, as he covered his nose and mouth with one hand. With his free hand, he hesitantly reached into the front compartment and searched under the seats for the leaver to unlock the back door, trying not to gag on the smell.

After a few moments the back door unlocked with a click and he heard Owen swing the backdoor open. Somehow, the stench doubled in strength and Mickey raced out the van, gagging for fresh, clean air.

"Fuck that stinks." he vaguely heard Owen complain. "Even for a dead bloke… or woman, bit hard to tell."

Hesitantly, Mickey gradually made his way round to the back of the van.

Owen was crouching over a body, and a pretty rotten one at that, wrapped haphazardly in plastic bags. The fluids leaking from the bloated body had stained the ply wood floor of the transit van. Whoever, this used to be, they deserved more than being forgotten in this dump.

"I'd say cause of death is the same as the first vic; Liam Kane. Blood leaking out the nose and ears, but without a full autopsy I won't even be able to tell you the age, body's too decomposed." explained Owen.

Owen stepped back from the body, satisfied that the quick examination was all he could do right now. Mickey grimaced as he watched the fluids from the body squelch through the wood as Owen shifted his weight. Owen paused and he glanced at the back of the van, something catching his attention. "Smith." Owen nudged his head towards the back of the van. "Does this van seem smaller on the inside to you?"

* * *

_Westerham – Kent_

In the leafy suburbs of Kent, Rose and Ianto were driving along a country lane. Unlike Owen and Mickey, the owner of Noble Earth Construction's; Blake Peters, house was far enough away from the gym that Jack let them 'borrow' a car for the day.

And Rose, was so, so, grateful for that. Not that she didn't mind taking the train, but taking the train with Ianto, well. He just didn't seem to like her very much. Rose put it down to her relationship with Jack but no matter how many times she had, hinted, suggested or outright said to his face that she and Jack were not _'like that'_ in anyway whatsoever, he never appeared to believed her.

Thankfully the radio filled the silence as they drove to the destination.

Soon, Ianto pulled into a road leading towards a big county house. The acres of land around the house were walled off and just in front of them was an intimidating spiked metal gate. Rose couldn't help but think it looked like a prison, despite how posh the grounds looked on the inside.

There was an intercom box which Ianto pressed but got nothing but static in return. It quickly became clear to Rose that the traditional method wasn't going to work, so she shuffled in her seat to reach the sonic lipstick in her jean pocket.

Ianto's eyes widened at the sight to the strange device – having not seen it in use during Jack's escape - that whirled and opened the metal gates in an instant. "What's that?" he asked.

"Sonic lipstick." Rose replied. "I'm borrowing it from a friend."

"Does Jack know you have that?" Ianto asked flatly.

Rose tried not to be offended by the third degree. "Yeah." she replied obliviously as possible. "It's how we broke him out."

Ianto said nothing and drove up the gravel path with a disgruntled look on his face.

Rose gawked at the house as it came into view. It was massive, bigger than her house on the parallel world, looking more like a castle than a place a person slept in. "Blimey, bit big for one, init?"

"Hmm." Ianto commented flatly.

Rose bit her tongue, just look after him, just look after him, she repeated to herself.

They got out the car and glanced around, checking for anything out of place. It was strange even though the house was stunning and it was a lovely summer's day, it gave Rose the creeps.

Ianto approached the door while Rose looked through the window. The mansion might've been old on the outside but the inside looked like a penthouse suite, modern and open and with a lot of expensive gadgets and modern art that didn't look like anything in particular.

Ianto knocked on the door. Nothing.

Ianto knocked again, louder and more aggressive this time. Nope, still nothing.

"Guess that means no one's home." said Rose as she moved from the window to the door, she did a quick check for CCTV and when she didn't see anything obvious she whirled the sonic lipstick at the lock and opened the front door. Ianto eyed the sonic suspiciously but said nothing.

"Nice place." he commented, looking at the designer interior.

"Yeah not bad." Rose agreed as she and Ianto stepped into the house.

The front door lead into a large open hallway with grand staircases leading from both walls and joining in the middle, pricey art and unusual sculptures lined the walls. Archways on both walls along the hall on the ground floor lead to more open plan reception areas, which looked like grand ballrooms fit to host the sort of parties that A list celebrities go to.

"So…?" Rose began, hesitantly, not sure who was in charge given it was just the two of them. "Split up? You take the right and I'll take the left."

Rose was thankful that Ianto simply nodded and wandered into the reception room on the right.

The house was spotless. There was no indication that anyone actually lived here. She looked in the fridge for any sort of evidence to support her theory but surprisingly enough there was an assortment of food in there. She clocked a pint of milk on the shelf and risked a sniff, it was fresh. Was the owner out or something? There were no other cars parked in the driveway, maybe the house had a garage attached to it? Rose was careful to be cautious as she explored. The whole house was still making her feel uneasy despite its movie star appearance. But apart the biggest TV she'd ever seen on planet Earth, she found nothing.

She was looking around the gym when she swore she saw something move behind her. "Oo's there?" she called out fearfully. But, typical of these sorts of situations, there was no response. This wasn't good. She started to walk back the way she came, her experience telling her that in these during times like this; it's always good to stick together.

By the time she reached Ianto her walk had evolved from a gentle pace to a brisk march.

"Hey." she called as she walked up behind him.

He was standing in the middle of, what looked to be, a dance floor; four pillars of stage lights on huge metal claw like structures surrounded him in a square shape. A DJ booth was at the far end of the square, wires running down the claw pillars, around the outside of the square, fed into the back of the back of the booth.

The first thought that crossed Rose's mind was how out of place it looked; the messy, obvious wires in a house so modern and neat. But that thought was quickly pushed to the back of her mind. She was more concerned with whoever was in the house.

"What's wrong?" Ianto asked, noticing her laboured breathing.

"I think someone's ere."

Ianto tensed. "Where?"

"I dunno, I just keep seeing things move out of the corner of my eye." she said, catching her breath.

"Might be a cat?" Ianto looked at her hopefully, only to be greeted with a stern look from Rose. It's never just a cat.

"Right." Ianto agreed and unholstered his weapon.

"Hey!" Rose protested, reaching her hand out to stop him. "We don't even know what it is yet."

"Better safe than sorry."

Suddenly there was a crashing sound coming from behind them, back towards the entrance of the house. Ianto immediately raised his weapon at the source, his attention fully fixed on what created the noise.

But Rose saw a shadow of something move in the opposite direction, a potted plant close to the DJ booth. Her eyes widened in horror as she saw a weasel-ily looking, young, stock –broker type, man quickly dart from the plant to the DJ booth with a desperate look on his face.

Rose's stomach sank as she realised why the dance floor looked so out of place. It wasn't really a dance floor it was something alien and the man was about to use it on Ianto.

She surged forward ramming a surprised Ianto out of the square dance floor created by the towering metal structures. She wasn't sure that knocking him out would prevent him from being affected but it was all she had time to do in the few seconds she had to move.

There was a flash of light that engulfed everything, consuming the whole room so everything looked white. One second Ianto was investigating something, the next he was knocked clean off his feet.He rapidly turned around to look for the source, on high alert and gun at the ready, prepared to shoot whoever had attacked them.

Rose was gone, instead a slimy looking man was grinning at him with a proud look on his face.

Oh no.

What was he going to tell Jack?

* * *

_Home Office – London_

Frobisher fell into his office chair, relieved. Jack had contacted him now all he needed to do was wait and let him take care of Torchwood once and for all.

Suddenly, this strange noise, a sort of grinding sound started to emulate from his staffs' shared office area just outside his door. He cautiously went out to investigate. The sound grew louder and filled the room. Wind appeared from nowhere and sent papers flying about the room like a hurricane.

And then he saw it.

The faded image of Doctor's blue box, blocking the door.

The Tardis appeared then reappeared, the ghost image becoming stronger and more solid with every cycle. Some of his staff ran to the emergency exit, some screamed and cried. Some of them knew what it was and just stared at it in awe.

Until finally there was a final whoosh and the Tardis solidified.

John braced himself, he'd rehearsed this, practised it over and over in his head. He pushed down his terror, swallowed his fear, willed himself to breath.

He could do this, he could do it.

The Tardis doors flew open with a bang. The Doctor stormed out, eyes burning with rage. "Where's John Frobisher?" he demanded.

John flinched.

Everyone left in the office froze and slowly turned to look at John, giving away his location. The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. A cup of pencils on a desk near to where John was standing fell of the table and crashed to the ground, causing John to wince at the noise.

Shortly following the Doctor; Oduya and Mace stepped out of the blue box, looking around in awe, despite their usual professionalism; surprised to have travelled in such a machine. Their eyes quickly found John and their militaristic stature returned in an instant.

John's eyes bulged when Harriet Jones stepped out of the Tardis. And suddenly John wasn't sure if he could pull this off. Harriet had figured him out during his visit.

Just what had she told the Doctor about him?

She was accompanied by a young black girl that he'd not even been informed about, dressed in casual clothes. The Doctor's current companion?

John forced himself to keep calm. He could still work around this, he could still make this work.

He had to.

The Doctor marched up to him, eyes burning and face twisted. He opened his mouth to yell but John willed his mouth to speak. "Sir, I know why you're here." he quivered, unable to prevent the utter terror from showing in his voice. "And let me just say that I had no choice in the matter."

The Doctor stopped dead in his tracks, only a metre or so away from John, thrown by his response.

John's plan was working, the Doctor was listening.

"Someone threatened you?" asked Oduya, also believing his story, moving so he was standing just behind the Doctor.

"My family… yes."

"Who?" the Doctor demanded.

This was it. If he could just convince the Doctor of this one last thing, all his problems would be over.

"Captain Jack Harkness." Frobisher said with as much certainty as he could muster. "He was one of the original agents back in 1965, when we first dealt with the beings responsible for the children, I can only theorise that Harkness must have done some sort of deal with them, and has been working for them ever since. I'm guessing his team found out about his transgressions, so he destroyed the evidence…" John had to remember act the part. "He said he'd do the same to my family." he trembled, the sheer fear he was feeling making it easier.

John finished his speech and looked towards the Doctor. His expression was hard to read, but he looked completely taken back, stunned even. John then looked at the others the Doctor was with, the Colonels and the girl seemed shocked, appearing to believe his story. He fought down the urge to smile in victory. But then he looked over to Harriet.

And the feeling in dread rose in Frobisher like nothing he'd ever experienced in his life.

She looked tense, her eyes were closed; like she was bracing herself for something. She sighed and relaxed at the same time then slowly opened her eyes. And when she did she looked at John with such pity and disappointment, and he knew, he'd got it wrong, made some sort of mistake.

Moments later, his theory was confirmed when the Doctor let out a crazed and humourless laugh, shaking his head in disbelief.

In reality it only lasted a couple of seconds but it seemed far longer than that for John.

"I'm sorry did you just say Jack Harkness?" the Doctor asked through his chuckles.

"Yes." said John shakily, unable to back track now. "I'm afraid so."

"Jack Harkness?" the Doctor asked again, still smiling madly.

"Yes?"

Then, like the flick of a switch; the Doctor's jovial mood stopped, morphing into a furious rage, shouting in John's face. " _The_ Jack Harkness?" taking John by surprise and causing him to stumble backwards, away from the Doctor, bumping into the table behind him.

"Yes." Frobisher managed as he gripped his hands onto the edge of the desk to steady them, feeling them starting to shake uncontrollably.

"The, Captain, Jack, Harkness?" the Doctor screamed.

Frobisher was too petrified to answer, his mouth immobilised by fear. All he could do was nod meekly, unable to meet the Doctor's intense gaze.

"Captain Jack Harkness the Time Agent? The man who used to travel with me? That Jack Harkness?!"

John Frobisher stopped trembling; feeling like his spirit had left his body and was floating around above him, his eyes glossed over.

The Doctor and Harkness knew each other.

 _Oh no._

The Doctor continued without a pause, making sure Frobisher realised just how big of a mistake he'd made. "The man who can never die? The man who's helped me save entire civilisations? The man who gave his life to save millions back when he only had one to give? The man who wouldn't even _think_ of hurting my friends, _especially_ Rose Tyler? That Captain Jack Harkness?!"

Now the full force of what he had done was hitting Frobisher with a vengeance. He had nowhere to run, the Doctor had found him out and he was going to unleash all his fury upon him any second.

Frobisher had made a grave, grave, miscalculation.

The Doctor and Harkness were _friends._

How could he have not considered the possibility before.

"Well, what do you have to say for yourself!?" screamed the Doctor.

His family, he'd failed them.

Frobisher fell to his knees, wailing like a toddler having a tantrum. "Please forgive me." he pleaded through his sobs, grabbing shamelessly at the Doctor's feet. "Please I beg you." he trembled, snivelling away, his face wet from snot and tears. 

Martha looked down on John with a mixture of disgust and shock, she'd never seen such a sight, the man who'd caused the Doctor such pain, caused that much destruction, snivelling by the Doctor's feet, begging for forgiveness. She glanced towards the Colonels, their expressions were unreadable but she could tell it was taking all their effort to keep it that way. She looked over to Harriet, she looked almost sorry for him.

But the Doctor looked at him like he was the most repulsive, vile, thing he had ever seen in the universe. "Get up." he snapped, shoving John off him.

John feebly tried to back on to his feet, whimpering the whole time. "Please." he begged, as he tried to pull himself up using his desk, his tears dripping on his clothes. "Spare my family. Don't tell them."

The Doctor moved closer to him his eyes burning with rage, he spoke in a low voice, quiet enough that only John could hear him. "Did you ever think, even for a _second_ , to spare mine?" he spat, his words venomous, but his voice broke a little, giving away just how much pain this man had caused him.

John slowly, shrinkingly, looked up at the Doctor; his eyes were boring into him, waiting for an answer.

No.

He didn't.

It never even crossed his mind, even after he had found out about Rose Tyler.

The Doctor watched as this pathetic, worthless, absolutely foul, human crumpled into sobs in front of him at his question. How dare this man. How _dare_ he. Not only did had he put the lives of millions of children at risk, not only did he hurt Rose, and Mickey - who he really had begun to see as his family - not only did he try to sully Jack's name, but he had the audacity to ask for mercy. After what he'd done! And only after he'd been caught!

This man was everything he hated about the human race; irresponsible, selfish, greedy, uncaring, cruel, a plague on the universe given the right conditions.

John Frobisher didn't want his family to know what a monster he really was. But the Doctor was going to make sure they _never_ forgot. They'd be reminded every second of everyday. Frobisher's name would be in every newspaper, every history book, there'd be documentaries made about him and his failure.

He'd make sure of it.

And he'd make sure Frobisher lived long enough to experience all the hatred the other humans would give him.

The Doctor felt Harriet shuffle behind him. He sighed, it could wait… for now.

"Get him out of my sight!" the Doctor hissed.

Colonel Mace stepped forward but then Harriet interrupted. "Sorry, if I may just ask one thing?" there was an urgency in her voice.

The group turned to look at her, a bit surprised. Mace then looked up at the Doctor, seeking his say so. The Doctor gave a small nod and Mace stepped back.

"Thank you." said Harriet, stepping towards John, looking down at him from his position on the floor. "Why is it that you were so certain you could convince us of Harkness's involvement with the 456?"

John turned white, his whimpering instantly stopping. If he thought he was the most scared he was in his life a few seconds ago, he was clearly mistaken.

The Doctor knew Jack. What would he do once he found out what he had threatened to do to Jack's family? Would he kill his family in revenge? But maybe it was better that way?

The rest of the group sensed John's change in demeanour and tensed.

"What did you do?" the Doctor demanded instantly.

"I…I… don't know what you mean." John replied meekly.

The Doctor swung his head back in impatience at this pathetic human, chuckling at the sheer idiocy of this absolutely _stupid_ ape. He turned back to look at him. "Oh Johnny, you've really done it now." The Doctor glanced at that two Colonels behind him. "Get him on his feet." the Doctor commanded coldly.

There was a moment of hesitation amongst them but they obeyed.

"Wha… no!.. no please!" John struggled in their grip as Mace and Oduya each grabbed one of John's arms and hauled him up. John struggled desperately in their hold, but he was no match for two trained officers. The Colonels looked scared as they, for the first time, could see the Doctor's gaze. Harriet and Martha looked on, unsure what exactly the Doctor was going to do, and unsure whether they should stop him. 

Frobisher was heaving, like he'd just ran a marathon but it was purely out of fear. The Doctor slowly stepped closer to John, who's heart was beating so fast he could hear his pulse in his ears.

"Let me make one thing clear, Mr Frobisher." the Doctor's cold voice and demeanour remained, calm and neutral with an underling condescension, which some how made the Doctor all the more terrifying. "Of all the enemies I've made in this universe, and trust me when I say that's a long, _long_ , list, your one of the few stupid enough to actually hurt my friends, and even then I think you're the only one to think you could get away with lying to me about it."

Frobisher swallowed, suddenly finding it difficult to remember how to breath.

"Now," the Doctor continued in the same tone. "I think you've done something to help back up your little fantasy and if you don't tell me exactly what you've done, I'll have no choice but to go into your mind and find out. And trust me Mr Frobisher…" the Doctor's tone shifted, it was lower, darker, but his volume and calmness remained, sending a shiver down everyone's spine. "if it comes to that I'll make sure that you never come out, you'll spend the rest of your life trapped inside your own mind, your own personal hell that I'll create just for you. And time goes a lot more slowly in the mind and I'll make sure, just for you, that it'll go as slow as possible."

The Doctor paused. "So, what's it going to be?"

Frobisher couldn't think, he was too scared to make a comparison. He needed to process. But the Doctor didn't give him any. After only a few seconds of silence on John's part the Doctor started to move his hands towards John's temples.

"Har..Har..Harkness has a family." John managed to stutter out at the last second.

The Doctor dropped his hands, a confused look on his face. "What?"

"My God." exclaimed Harriet.

"WHAT!" yelled the Doctor his earlier anger returning. "What did you do?!"

Frobisher looked away. "We.. we needed.."

"I don't care what you needed, tell me what you've done!" demanded the Doctor.

"We arrested his family." John spoke in the tiniest voice. "We told him….we told him, that if he" John stuttered, willing himself to speak through his terror. "That if he killed the rest of Torchwood, and kept quiet about the 456, we wouldn't hurt his family." he finished before sobbing again, knowing full well that was going to be the nail in his coffin. "I'm sorry." 

"Oh my God." exclaimed Martha. "How could you do something like that!"

John just continued to sob. The Doctor stepped back, speechless that this human's cruelty, but also processing what that meant for Torchwood and Jack, and of course Rose.

But, he knew Jack.

Jack wouldn't go through with it.

Not because Jack wasn't capable. Time Agents were basically spies, and the Doctor knew from Jack's time with him that he knew the horrors of war, just as much as him. He could see it in the way Jack acted, in his eyes. And it wasn't because Jack cared for Rose or the rest of Torchwood more than is own family either, but because the Doctor knew that Jack understood what was at risk. Jack needed Torchwood to help him stop the 456 and that needed to take priority over his own personal life.

"He won't do it." the Doctor said flatly. "Jack knows what's at stake."

"I concur." chimed in Harriet. "He wouldn't heed the investigation by stopping Torchwood." she turned to face Frobisher. "Where are you keeping Jack's family?"

John didn't respond, too busy trying to come to terms with his own self-destruction.

"Answer her question." the Doctor seethed.

"Ashdown house, Kent, off the M2, by Medway bridge."

"Right, Colonels, take him away. And arrest Green while you're at it. Martha, Harriet, with me."

The Doctor rushed towards the Tardis, he had just swung the doors open and was about to step inside when someone in the office called out. "Wait!" it was a woman's voice.

The Doctor stopped and turned to face her, she looked young, light brown skin and curly hair, she seemed nervous. "Err, sorry," she stammered, the Doctor looked at her impatiently. "It's just… are you really here to help the children?"

The Doctor looked her up and down, sensing that she had something important she wanted to tell him he calmed down and took her seriously. "Yes, yes I am."

"It's just… sorry but what about the aliens in Thames House?"

The whole group's eyes widened, so did Frobisher' s. "Sorry?" the Doctor asked.

The woman looked nervous. "It's just while you were talking all the children started pointing to Thames House, then there was a sort of tunnel of fire and the aliens landed in Thames house."

"What! When?" Martha exclaimed.

"Just a few minutes ago, the report's just come in."

The Doctor ran round to her computer and quickly looked over the report, Martha joining him.

At the same time, an older lady sitting opposite the young woman was scowling deeply at her. "You're not meant to have access to that information."

"But, they need to know." the young woman protested, fighting against the fear she was obviously feeling. "And he." she looked at John Frobisher, her confidence growing in her voice. "Just admitted to kidnapping and arranging murder, I didn't sign the official secrets act to cover up murder."

"Quite right." agreed Harriet.

The Doctor said nothing but looked poignantly at the Colonels, before returning his attention to the screen. "She's right they're already here." he announced, causing Mace – Oduya stayed to keep hold of Frobisher - and Harriet to join him around the computer with Martha. There was no CCTV, just a single email.

"We can't just leave now. What are we going to do?" asked Martha.

"And we should arrest Green as soon as possible, in case he is working with the 456 and has a chance to warn them." added Mace.

"And we need someone to actually negotiate with the creatures. We don't want them to believe we don't take their threat seriously and risk them doing something to the children." added Harriet.

The Doctor ran his hand through his hair.

There were a lot of problems to sort out at the same time. "Okay." he decided. "Frobisher."

A jolt shot through him. "Y..yes.. .sir?" he asked meekly.

The Doctor grimaced, disgusted by Frobisher's grovelling. The Doctor moved closer to Frobisher. "I'm only going to ask you this once." the Doctor said darkly. "Who else knows about the 456?"

Frobisher looked down. "Me, and the Prime Minister…"

"Just you two?" the Doctor asked.

"Yes…" he thought. "…No!... sorry, and there's Dekker, he knows the most."

The Doctor glared at him. "If you're lying to me."

"No. I swear."

The Doctor scoffed. "Like that means anything." He thought for a bit then turned to face the group. "Right, in that case. Colonels I've got a job for you."

The Colonels stood to attention. "Sir." they said at the same time.

"Take Frobisher and arrest Green, and this Dekker. Find out what they know about the 456. The name gives me the frequency allocation but I need to know the actual wave it's broadcasting on to track where they're broadcasting from."

The Colonels nodded.

"Harriet." said the Doctor. Harriet tensed. "You're right we do need someone to negotiate with the 456, and that someone's going to be you."

Harriet looked stunned. "But... I'm not even a backbencher anymore."

"No, your UNIT's trained negotiator as of five minutes ago."

Harriet thought for a moment. "Very well, what do you need me to do?"

"Just keep them talking, try and find out what you can about them."

Harriet nodded. "Alright. I'll do what I can."

"And what about you and Miss Jones, Doctor?" Mace asked.

"Me and Martha will make a quick visit to Ashdown house, bring anything useful you find back here." said the Doctor, having started to move into the Tardis.

The Colonels nodded at the same time as the Doctor put his key into the Tardis and opened the door. He stepped inside, Martha following but a second later he popped his head out again.

"Oh, and good luck."

Harriet and the Colonels smiled. "And you, Doctor." replied Harriet. 

The Doctor glared at Frobisher one last time before going back into the Tardis, making sure Frobisher knew that he wasn't done with him yet. 

The whooshing of the Tardis engines soon filled the office, and just as quickly as it appeared, the Tardis was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Ermmm... I actually don't know. I need to split the chapter it's so long. 
> 
> When: ... Wednesday? I'm really trying to get it posted by Wednesday. I want this day (three more chapters) posted by the end of the month. 
> 
> Other notes: Woo! I posted it on Wednesday! (GMT) I'm a lot happier with this chapter than the last one (though I swear every time I tell myself it'll be under 6000 words). I want to get this story all posted by the end of September. But day four is a mess! I need to edit so much. And then there's this Christmas one I want to write so... hmm looks like this will be a series.


	18. Day Three, Chapter Five - The Thing About Thames House

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning for blood and gore here - still in keeping with Torchwood standards, but just to be safe.

_Deptford – London_

Owen was right; the van really was smaller on the inside. There was a wooden, ply wood, panel in the back of the van; towards the driver's compartment; a common design, but there was no metal behind it and when Owen knocked on it, it was hollow. There was no sign of a way to get in through the back either, so, by default, that meant the entrance to the hidden compartment was either outside via a sliding door, or inside from the driver's compartment. Mickey wondered around the outside of the van, checking for sliding doors to access the hidden compartment. Maybe the edge of the door was hidden under the logo sticker or something?

Mickey ran his hand over the sticker. There was no crease to indicate a sliding door on the side, so the driver's compartment it was.

"Get a move on Smith." Owen called, who was still in the back of the van with his medical equipment, quickly taking samples with the equipment he'd managed to save from the explosion.

"Give me a chance." Mickey complained.

Mickey grimaced, having to go back into the van where the smell was still pretty rancid. He opened the door to climb in and noticed the windows were heavily tinted, strange, but promising.

He looked inside, paying more attention than last time. The van only had one seat in it. He'd never seen a van like that and he'd seen hundreds of them from when he worked as a mechanic. Somebody had removed the passage seats from the main compartment. The metal tracks for the seats were still on the floor. He felt around for some sort of switch or hatch.

Bingo.

The wood panel; behind where the passenger seats used to be, popped open. Mickey braced himself as a waft of smell spread into the front compartment. Mickey prayed that it was just residue stink from the body in the back and not a new one waiting to be discovered.

"The entrance is round here!" Mickey called to Owen.

"Well, what's inside?"

The room was tight, dark and cramped, the walls and floor all the same plywood. No sign of a body, but instead it looked like some sort of monitoring station. There was a single office chair that Mickey had to ungracefully squeeze past - almost step over - to reach the numerous screens hanging one under another on one side of the wall. There were two keyboards resting on a plank of wood nailed into the wall directly under the screens, acting as a makeshift desk. But the thing that instantly got Mickey's attention was a gizmo shaped like a large bathroom plunger crossed with a retro video game joystick that was suctioned onto the middle of the desk.

It was out of place, and defiantly looked alien in origin. It had dials and readouts on the rubber section of the plunger, in a language that Mickey had never seen before. But most importantly, it still seemed to be on, as lights were blinking both on the rubbery base and a single small light at the top of the handle.

He stared at the device, hmm it looked technical, without thinking he jostled the handle to see if anything happened. But as soon as he did he heard Owen yell from the back.

"Jesus fucking Christ!"

The van rocked at Owen's rapid movement and Mickey scrambled out the door towards the back; weapon ready.

"What is it? Wot's wrong?"

Owen was pointing his gun into the back of the van, finger on the trigger.

Mickey saw and instantly pointed his weapon in the same direction, on immediate high alert.

There was nothing in the van, just the body.

"It fucking moved Smith." Owen hissed.

"What? But they're dead… aint they?" said Mickey, fearfully remembering that scene in the film Seven.

"I'm telling you it's the fucking zombie apocalypse." Owen protested.

Suddenly the body spasmed and they both jumped back, screaming. The only thing stopping them shooting was the fact that they could ignite the engine if they did.

From the front they could hear a faint voice. They both glanced at each other.

"Who's back there Smith?" Owen asked, eyes not moving from the corpse.

"No one. It's a device, a thing."

Owen kept his gun trained on the corpse before pulling back and briskly moving around to the front and climbing into the van.

Mickey kept his gun trained on the, possible, zombie.

It jerked again.

"Owen it's moving, it's moving!" he yelled, panicked.

"Wait hold on." Owen called. "What about now?"

It jerked but this time it was a lot weaker. "Yeah. Are you sure they're not dead?"

Owen was silent for a few seconds. "Smith, look at it. They're as dead as a door nail."

Owen climbed back a lot more relaxed this time, his gun holstered. "It's not a zombie. I think whatever that thing is in the front is how they were controlling the vics."

"But he's… she's.. they're dead, how can it still control it?" Mickey asked. His voice didn't sound convinced but he lowered his weapon.

"Well I'm no expert on mind control but the scans from the kids brains suggest an override and if this is the same thing just cranked up to eleven. I'm guessing it still works as long as there's matter still available. But there's very little here which is why this poor sod is just twitching at us and not going on a summer stroll down to the local market."

"Well if that's true how come there are no reports of it happening at the hospitals?"

Owen thought. "Or maybe that's how they snuck the bodies out of the morgue in the first place. For all we know they could've been dead this whole time."

"So what? You're saying they were already dead when the other vics stole the equipment? So they just walked back into work the next day? Wouldn't someone notice?" Mickey thought a bit more. "And you saw the video, Liam Kane died _afte_ r he took that fan." Mickey argued.

Owen looked disbelievingly at the body, deep in thought. "Yeah, but what else could it be? Tosh couldn't find out how _all_ of the bodies when missing from the morgue, and I bet that's because she wasn't looking for them walking out the front door."

"But then why not just make them walk back to the morgue? I mean, that'd be safer wouldn't it? Stop them appearing on missing persons reports. And it still doesn't explain why they didn't just pay 'em off? Or just steal it like normal? If stuff is all they wanted." Mickey argued.

The cogs were still turning in Owen's mind, he looked intently at the body for a few more seconds, before his face relaxed. "Yeah, I've got fuck all. There must be something we're missing."

Owen put a finger to his ear piece. "Tosh did you get that?"

" _If you mean, you two screaming like a couple of girls, then yes_." Tosh said smugly.

Mickey and Owen looked at each other and then looked away, only a little embarrassed. "You know that's not what I meant." Owen stated with a fed up tone.

" _I know."_ Tosh chirped. " _I've been looking into it while you two were gossipi- I mean theorising –"_ Tosh's voice was jovial but then it shifted. _"And you were right. I arranged the victims in order of their hospital admission and not order of disappearance. For the first seven victims all I've managed to find CCTV of them exiting the hospital_ _ **after**_ _they were pronounced dead according to_ _ **CCTV**_ _, and_ _ **not**_ _the files– it would explain what that nurse said to you earlier, when he said about the vic dying on his rounds being sent her ashes later - the lag in the paper work. Not only that but in the first seven victims; all their bodies – or ashes – I should say, find their way back to the hospital and they were all originally admitted for different reasons. But then after the eighth victim, that's when it changes; all the symptoms are the same, all of them are admitted for observation, die within a few days or discharge themselves and go missing."_

"So something changed, caused them to change the way they do things. Maybe, they had to speed things up because the 456 were arriving soon?" Owen spoke into his ear piece, Mickey listening on his own.

" _The time-frame of the last victims are closer together_." Tosh agreed.

"But that still doesn't explain why they didn't just pay them off in the first place?" Mickey added.

" _I can't be certain but using dead people implies the 456 don't want anyone to know what they're up to_."

Owen looked towards the entrance of the warehouse. "Well whatever they were planning on building, there's probably some clue in there."

Mickey turned to face him and followed his line of sight and nodded towards Owen. "Let's do it."

* * *

_Camden – London_

" _The CCTV picked them up thirty minutes ago. The Hasting Arms pub, there's a few blind spots they could've snuck out of, but I'm pretty sure they're still in there."_

"Right, thanks Tosh." said Gwen as she lowered her hand from her ear and turned to Rhys. "They're inside." She nodded her head towards the pub in the middle of the street. "Now Rhys listen, they're scared and they know they're being hunted, that makes them dangerous."

Rhys nodded as he listened intently. He was clearly terrified at the thought of going inside but couldn't bare to leave Gwen to fend for herself.

"So we go in there, we don't make any sudden movements, we approach them slowly, and if they start to move we back away. Got it?" Gwen explained.

Rhys nodded. "Yeah."

"Okay let's go."

Rhys pushed down his fear and bravely walked side by side with Gwen as they entered the pub.

The pub was decorated like any other Weatherspoons or similar chain. And apart from a few patrons slouching over the bar or tables; it was empty, making it easier to spot Clem and Sophie in a booth at the far side of the room.

Clem was already looking at them before they spotted him, staring at both of them, eyes unblinking.

Gwen spoke quietly to Rhys "Right that's them. Nice and slow."

Rhys swallowed nervously and followed Gwen in slowly approaching their table. Clem got a little spooked but Sophie stroked his arm to calm him, although she looked far more frightened than her brother. Without breaking eye contact, Gwen and Rhys slowly slid in to the other end of the booth.

"Don't worry." said Gwen calmly as she went to sit down. "We're not going to hurt you."

Sophie looked nervously over to Clem who was still staring at Gwen. Rhys looked between the two of them, a little worried for the safety of his girlfriend.

"Give me your hand." asked Clem calmly as Gwen shuffled into a more comfortable position in the booth. Rhys jerked his eyebrows upwards and looked towards Gwen to see if she'd go through with it. The Clem guy seemed creepy and Rhys didn't like the risk one bit.

Gwen herself was clearly unsure but she hesitantly placed her hand in the middle of the table.

As soon as her hand touched the wood Clem yanked it closer to him and started sniffing it, obviously making Gwen very uncomfortable, although she said nothing.

Rhys stood up "Hey!" he yelled angrily.

Sophie reached up and grabbed Rhys's arm. "Please it's okay he's not going to hurt her."

Rhys looked to Gwen, who nodded and he sat back down, although he was still on edge, eyeing the scene suspiciously.

Clem released her hand and Gwen immediately pulled it back. Rhys put a comforting hand on her back and she smiled at the gesture before waving him off.

"You're telling the truth." Clem said surprised. "I can smell it."

Sophie touched Clem's shoulder to silence him so she could explain. "I'm sorry but we needed to be sure." Sophie became more upset as she remembered. "These people with guns came to our house. They took Mandy. I thought it was you but Clem said they smelt different. He's usually right about that sort of thing. He said we needed to go to London so we've been hiding here ever since."

"Is that right Clem?" Gwen asked.

"Oh yes." Clem threw his head to the side repeatedly as he spoke, like some sort of twitch. "Isn't it? Isn't it?"

Rhys couldn't hide his surprise at the strange man's behaviour and looked back towards Gwen but Gwen remained professional. She looked around the pub and leaned closer towards them.

"The people that came after you, came after us as well." she said and Sophie's eyes widened in shook.

"They came after you're department?" she asked

Gwen nodded. "That explosion in Cardiff that was my office."

Clem giggled like a child. "Really?"

"Clem!" Sophie protested. "That's not funny her friends could've been hurt."

Clem looked guilty. "It's not funny. Isn't it? Isn't it?" he said swinging his head to the side, gaining a few looks from onlookers.

"Sorry." said Sophie but Gwen waved off her apology.

"The point is we have somewhere you can hide. It's not five star but it's safe and you can stay there until we stop who's responsible."

"Do you think you can do that? Stop these people?" Sophie asked.

"It's what we do."

"And why are they after us?"

Gwen glanced at Clem before returning her attention to Sophie. "We know that Clem was taken by the same.." Gwen glanced around the pub and leaned closer so no one could hear their conversation but them. " _Beings_ that are controlling the children."

Clem looked shocked. "I told you Sophie, they've come back." he whispered to her, in full panic mode, but Sophie looked at him calmly. "I know." she said.

"Yes." agreed Gwen. "They have come back and the people who spoke to them before don't want anyone to know. That's why they're after you because you're proof that they know who the… 'beings' are."

"I'm proof, so they want to kill me?" Clem said darkly, suddenly fully engaged in the conversation.

"I'm sorry, but yes."

"But what about you, why were you so interested in the first place?" asked Sophie, with a hint of suspicion.

Gwen took a breath, these two deserved the truth after their lives had already been so uprooted. "When I first came to see you we didn't know who was behind the children talking, and Clem was the only adult that had been affected so we assumed there was a connection."

"And what about now?" she asked

"Now, we still think there's a connection and we think you -" Gwen looked at Clem. " - might be able to help us stop the Beings transmitting to the children. But even if there isn't we want to make sure you're safe. I'm sorry I know it's a lot to ask, but we can help you." Gwen pleaded.

"We..? That's you and your team." Sophie asked.

"Yes."

Sophie considered this a while then nodded. "Okay Detective Cooper, we'll trust you."

* * *

_Deptford – London_

Mickey and Owen barged into the warehouse, guns at the ready, it was dark, dusty, and messy. They swept the immediate area as quick as they could. It seemed to be just the one main floor with rooms and offices at the far end; most of them empty apart from one sort of board meeting type of room which was filled with advertising posters that Mickey cleared.

But it quickly became apparent both from the dust and the plastic tarps draped over sturdy wooden workbenches in the main area, that no one was home and it had been that way for a while.

Owen and Mickey lowered their weapons.

"You get the lights, I'll see what's under here." said Owen.

"A please would be nice." Mickey complained, but turned towards the wall anyway.

Owen rolled his eyes, even though Mickey had his back to him and couldn't see. He pulled the trap off the closest workbench, which had a lot of glass underneath it as it loudly rattled as the vibrations from the motion caused it to clank together.

It was a chemistry set, the sort seen in illegal drug factories. Owen scrunched his face up in surprise, not what he was expecting in the slightest. All the equipment stolen had been hardware; industrial, construction, materials. No indication of a drug ring.

He looked to the next workbench closest to him and threw off the tarp, just as Mickey had found the lights, which flickered on with the clicking twang sound that cheap industrial lighting tended to make. "Well this isn't construction." mumbled Owen as he took his phone out of his pocket to send the pictures of the newly unveiled chemistry set to Tosh. "Tosh, you getting this?"

" _Yeah… It looks to be some sort of distillation process, but not your typical drug dealers tool kit either. It's difficult to say._ "

Mickey arrived back from switching off the lights and took one look at the chemical set in front of him. "Whoa, You sure about that?"

" _Yes… for now. Are there anymore photo's you can send me_?"

"Yeah, hold on." said Mickey

Owen and Mickey began taking off all the tarps from the workbenches in the warehouse and sending pictures to Tosh. Mickey sneezed at the dust flew around the room, but Owen was unaffected, finding Mickey's discomfort hilarious.

"Shut up." Mickey hissed, annoyed.

Under the tarps they found a variety of scientific equipment, Mass spectrometers, electron microscopes, petri dishes as well as pressure cooker looking devices, circuit boards with soldering irons and computer chips, all of it mismatched and not looking like they belonged together at all.

"Bit advanced don't you think?" Mickey wondered aloud, yanking off another tarp, revealing some advanced hi-tech machine and snapping a picture.

"Yeah, you're telling me. Most of this stuff you can only find in labs, expensive ones at that. Where's all the construction equipment our vics were stealing?" Owen agreed.

" _There might've been other victims we don't know about, most of the serial numbers on this equipment have been reported stolen or missing from different labs around the city. It looks like they were experimenting with something, trying to work out the correct amount needed – get the right yield? And Trying to pressurise it – like an aerosol? but for what I can't tell you, I need more information._ "

"A virus?" Mickey asked fearfully. "Like when they first came here, the flu or something?"

"Indonesian influenza." stated Owen flatly. "And not likely, that virus is naturally airborne, but there messing with pressurised containers, that's not necessary to release airborne viruses." Owen pulled the last tarp off the workbench, it was a regular office printer. "In fact increasing the pressure would likely kill it." Owen sighed, fed up with the lack of progress. "They must've moved the construction stuff somewhere else because it's not here."

" _Well I've checked the records, this is their only company building."_

Mickey thought for a moment. "There was that room that I cleared back there, had loads of paperwork in it. Looked like advertisement stuff to me but bit out of place init? Maybe it can tell us something." He nodded towards the back of the warehouse where the office rooms were.

"Worth a shot." Owen admitted.

Mickey led Owen to the room. It was a typical sort of 'Dragon's Den' looking boardroom - bar the layer of dust - with advertising posters vertically stacked together around the edges, leaning on the side of the wall. Owen flicked through them. "Noble Air – Conditioning and Filtrations." he read out. "Mean anything?" he asked both Mickey, and Tosh on the com.

Mickey shrugged and shook his head, returning his attention to a book case filled with thick binder files. He picked one of them from the shelves and flicked through it.

"… _That's not a company belonging to Blake Peters."_ Tosh said hesitantly. " _Hold on_." there was some loud bashing heard over the com. " _It's fake… let me get back to you, I need a sec to cross-reference the data_."

Meanwhile Mickey was studying the contents of the file. It looked to be some sort of customer manifest, which was strange since Tosh said the company hadn't had any customers for months. The sums of money were huge too. By default that meant, the solo customer; Jasper White, was most likely the 456. Most of it was documenting incoming money, apart from the last order. It was some kind of shipment to be delivered to the warehouse, and a lot of it too about 500 kgs of the stuff, from the same customer, Jasper White.

"Hey Owen, any idea what VX is?" Mickey asked, holding up the binder, so Owen could see it.

Owen's eyes popped and he marched towards Mickey, snatching the file out of his hand. He studied it, flicking through the pages at a pace. "Shit!" he exclaimed.

"Why what is it?" Mickey asked in a panic.

"VX - one of the deadliest poisons known to man."

"What?! The 456 had this stuff!" Mickey exclaimed.

"Yeah, it must be what they're trying to pressurise, it's fast acting, can kill you in minutes, causes you to suffocate, but it's most deadly in vapour form, that must be what they've been doing here; trying to create some sort bomb, to kill as many people as possible."

Mickey's eyes widened in realisation and then waved his hand around as another thought hit him. "Liam Kane, he stole some fan that is used to ventilate the tunnels." He march to where Owen had been standing earlier, he looked at the advertisement and pointed at the sign. "Air – Conditioning, they're going to release it through the vent's."

"Shit."

"They ordered 500kgs of the stuff, how many people can they kill with that?" Mickey looked to Owen for an answer but Tosh replied through the com. " _Approximately, everyone in a one mile radius."_

There was a moment of stunned silence. In a busy city like London, that was a lot of people. Owen sighed and looked around the room, a dejected look on his face. "The construction equipment isn't here that means they've already set it up."

" _I think I might know the target_." said Tosh, her voice sounded grave. " _Noble Air – Conditioning only had one legitimate client, all the others were fake, I suspect they were just created to get the one contract – Thames House, nine days ago_."

Mickey and Owen exchanged alarmed looks at one another.

Tosh took their silence to mean that they understood the graveness of the situation. " _And it gets worse. The 456 just arrived on Earth, and one guess where they are._ "

Mickey and Owen's shoulders slumped. "Thames House." they replied in unison. This changed everything. How was Torchwood going to get into Thames House to stop the 456 when they had a poison gas, primed and ready to fire?

"Hold on." a thought hitting Mickey, eager to find a solution to the problem. "But if they're in Thames house, then they'll be affected too?"

" _They've been planning this for months, so it's likely they're in some sort of safe zone, or it could be that they are able to survive in those conditions, we still don't know anything about their species."_

Mickey looked dejected but refused to give up, unlike Owen who was in a mood. "Okay, then why do they want to poison Thames House anyway? I mean, they need the people there to listen to what they want, why poison them?"

Owen sighed tiredly, having already had the thought. "Because they need an insurance policy, something to threaten the people inside with." he said flatly.

* * *

_Kennington – London_

Ianto had just told Tosh everything that had happened. He needed her advice. How was he going to tell Jack? He knew Jack cared a lot about Rose, and he also knew how it looked. After all, he'd made it pretty clear how he felt about her, well, he never said anything but the way he acted was evidence enough. And on top of that, the team were still learning to trust him again after everything that happened with Lisa.

Blake Peters was still in the car, Ianto having shoved him in the boot. He had tried in vain to get Peters to talk but he merely chuckled, even after he hit him across the face.

"You hit like a bitch." Peters grinned.

Tosh looked at a loss, she was just about to say something when Jack marched into the room, already in a horrid mood. He was in such a bad mood that he didn't realise that Ianto was back and Rose wasn't.

"Right, Tosh get me everything you know on John Frobisher." he commanded. "Now."

Tosh looked hesitantly to Ianto, but Ianto was too busy building up the courage to say something.

"Jack." began Tosh nervously. "There's been another development."

"What is it." he said sternly, glaring at her.

Tosh quickly glanced at Ianto, he was still preparing himself.

"Mickey and Owen uncovered a lab at the warehouse. It appears the 456 were using Blake Peters to construct some sort of bomb set to release a deadly poison, which they've installed it at Thames House. That's what the victims were being used to steal." said Tosh, deciding to let Jack focus on something else for now.

Jack's voice was more shocked now. "What?"

"They think they're using it as an insurance policy. To force the negotiators to agree to our terms."

Jack thought, momentarily distracted from wanting to strangle Frobisher with his bare hands for taking his family. "No, that's too small time. The 456 are big time, they've planted the bomb for another reason."

"Then, what?" Tosh asked.

Jack brought his hand to his mouth as he rubbed his lips, deep in thought. "It's to scare us." he said after a long moment. "They killed those people after they stole the equipment, controlled them, when they could've just paid them off, why? Because they didn't want anyone to know that's how they planted the device. They want us, the human race, to assume that they have the power to unleash bio-weapons on a whim. It's a scare tactic not a blackmail."

Tosh thought, that theory certainly fit all the facts. "I mean it's defiantly plausible. Mickey and Owen also found the device that controlled the victims _after_ death, but there's still a few inconsistencies with the victims, like Liam Kane for example, he was killed _after_ he was used to steal something, not before like a large proportion of the victims."

Jack thought, his mind slowly shifting on solving the problem at hand. "Ianto did you and Rose find anything at the house?"

The colour suddenly drained from Ianto's face. Jack tensed and looked around, knowing instantly that something was wrong. "Where is Rose?" he asked, panic clear in his voice.

Ianto cast his eyes down to the floor, making it very obvious that something was, indeed, wrong, very, very wrong.

"Ianto, where's Rose?" Jack demanded, the fear in his voice growing.

"Jack." Ianto began sadly, still not able to look him in the eye, his voice trembling under Jack's gaze. "There was this thing at the house; she pushed me out of the way. There was this light and when I looked up she was gone."

Jack's eyes glossed over, unable to believe what Ianto was telling him. "Jack I'm sorry…" Ianto begged. "I had no idea… I thought … I'm sorry."

Jack stepped away from him, he took a few more seconds to process the information. Ianto and Tosh watched him carefully, he looked absolutely furious.

What a fucking day he was having. Jack suddenly screamed and kicked and shoved anything that was near him. "God damn it!" He turned to face Ianto "Why did it activate?"

"Sor – " Jack had said it so fast Ianto didn't understand what he was saying.

"The dance floor, why did it activate?" Jack yelled.

"Blake Peters. he - "

"Where is he?" Jack snapped.

Ianto stuttered, intimidated by Jack's tone. "… the car."

Jack marched off instantly, not sparing a glance at either Tosh or Ianto. He opened the back of the SUV. Peters; a scrawny, slimy, geezer in a wall street suit. He smiled this smug evil grin that made Jack's, already, raw anger explode to the surface like a volcano.

"You must be the boss." Peters told Jack calmly.

Jack socked him square in the face. Peters howled in agony, stunned by Jack's sudden attack. He pressed his hand to his bloody nose and looked at it to confirm it was actually bleeding. He glared at Jack, angry and offended. "Hey now yo-"

Jack said nothing but wrenched Peters by the ankles and dragged him out of the car. Peters' body flailed around aimlessly as he tried to fight Jack's grip. But Jack's fury was unrivalled.

Peters screamed at Jack to stop – sounding more annoyed than scared - but Jack ignored him and continued marching towards the centre of the reception area. He flung Peters in front of him.

"Where's the blonde!" Jack demanded. Tosh and Ianto looked on in horror, not daring to intervene.

Peters steadied himself and sat up. He wiped more blood from his face and caught his breath. For a few seconds it looked like he was going to concede.

But then he opened his mouth. "Now look what you've done. You've got blood on my shirt." he said, not fazed by Jack's rage in the slightest.

Ianto and Tosh couldn't believe his audacity.

But Jack knew his kind well. He knew how to make them _squeal_.

Jack crouched down to Peters' level. "Tough guy huh? I give it ten minutes." he said in a low tone.

Peters leaned closer to Jack. "Newbie huh?"

Jack smiled and chuckled in a way that sent shivers down Tosh and Ianto's spine. They had never seen Jack so angry before, even with everything they'd seen together he'd never lost it quite like this.

Jack casually got up and wondered slowly over to a bag that someone had left behind the desk. Tosh was pretty sure it was Owen's. It was mostly empty as he'd probably taken a lot of the equipment with him but Jack rummaged around in it and pulled out a few things, making sure to take his time and examine them carefully.

He threw the pieces that he took out of the bag loudly on the table. Not saying a word. Peters looked on, a glimmer of fear slowly starting to show in his eyes.

Jack finally seemed to have found what he was looking for; a plastic container, looking a bit like a glasses case. He flipped it open and looked inside but in a way where Peters couldn't see the contents. Jack took something out of the case and marched up to Peters. Peters saw the deadly look in Jack's eyes and, at that moment, decided that Jack wasn't a newbie after all. He scrambled to get up and run away. But Jack lunged at him, grabbed him by the arm and slashed a scalpel across it.

Blood shot out of Peters instantly, like it was a water hose, covering the equipment, the sofa, even Tosh and Ianto who recoiled and jerked at the sensation of the hot liquid on their face. The smell of iron in the air getting stronger and stronger.

"What are you doing?!" cried Peters, trying to cover his wound, the sheer amount of blood flooding from it making it difficult.

"Isn't obvious?" said Jack, getting down to Peters' level once more, completely unfazed by the blood pooling around him. "I'm killing you, nice and slow. It's the waiting that's the worst. Trust me I should know."

"Are you fucking crazy!" Peters screamed trying to crawl away but slipping on the puddle of his own blood. "Don't you want information? I'm the only one who knows where the blonde is! If I die you'll never find out!" He screeched, absolutely terrified.

Tosh and Ianto said nothing. They just watched in horror as the scene played out before them.

"Funny how cooperative you are now you're bleeding to death. But here's the thing I don't think you actually know where she is. I mean if you're stupid enough to piss me off" Jack said with a sickly smile. "I doubt you know what's really going on." he said casually.

With his hand still pressing on his wound Blake Peters had the eyes of a man desperate to survive. He watched as the blood continued to gush outside of his body. He knew this guy in front of him was the only way he had a slither of a chance to live another day.

The man wanted the girl but where she was, was impossible.

"No, no, listen, I'll talk, I'll tell you, but please you've got to save me."

Jack moved closer to him, if face in a scowl. "No." he hissed.

Peters was growing more desperate. "No look you won't believe me but it's the truth I swear. I swear I know where she is but please you've got to save me."

Jack stood up, towering over the injured man, who was now wishing that he never provoke him. "Tell you what. You start talking and if I like what I hear, then I'll consider saving your _miserable life_." Jack spat the last words like they were poison. 

It took Peters a split second to reach a decision. He wanted to live. "Okay, okay she's on a spaceship." Peters recoiled, thinking that Jack would think he was lying and hit him but when he looked up Jack was standing perfectly still.

"That it?" Jack asked.

Peters was a little taken back by Jack's attitude and looked around at the others they seemed unsurprised too.

"No, no." he stammered out, after recovering from his initial shock, strengthening the pressure he was putting on his wound. "She's been taken to a spaceship. It sounds crazy, but it's true." He looked towards Ianto, desperation in his eyes. "I have this dance floor, only it's not a dance floor, it's a teleport."

"How do we activate it?" Jack asked quickly, his voice commanding and intimidating.

"Press the orange play button on the shuffle board." answered Peters, as quick as he possibly could, knowing every second that passed was a second closer to his death, the blood drenching his clothes.

"If you're lying."

"I'm not. Now pleas-"

"What's up there?"

"A holding pen for the kids. The kids speaking; it's them, the ones I work for."

"Why did they need you?"

"They needed workers, lots of them. "

The pool of blood around Peters was growing, now matter how hard he pressed the blood was gushing out.

"How did they contact you?"

"Through the car radio."

"How did you get the workers to comply?"

"I… I…" Peters trembled

"Talk!"

" I … I threw a party for my workers, asked them to bring their friends, family, tricked them into using the dance floor and got my friends to round up any that were left."

Tosh spoke over Jack, realising that his information didn't match her findings. "But how did you get that many people to disappear without a trace? There was nothing on our radar."

"I.. I only employed immigrates, illegals, asylum seekers, refugees, anyone desperate for a job with no paper trail. There's hundreds of them."

Tosh looked disgusted.

"Please I'm getting dizzy, PLEASE." Peters begged as he began to feel weak, but nobody moved.

"Not until I'm done with you." Jack seethed. "What about the equipment, why didn't you just pay those people to steal what you wanted? Why kill them?"

Blake Peters' voice was getting weaker. "They gave us technology. – "

"Us?"

"Me and my mates, they're up there on the ship, keeping the workers in line." Peters' words were getting slurred and the pressure he was putting on his wound was getting weaker, but only Ianto looked concerned about it.

"Workers!" Tosh snapped. "They're prisoners! Slaves!"

"What technology did they give you? Why kill them?" Jack demanded.

"I … I can't"

"Tell me!"

"Technology to control people – like puppets. It was only meant to be for dead people, as long as they were fresh, you could control them. We'd sneak them back to the morgue, jimmy with the paperwork... guy I knew... hospital. They – the aliens – they wanted no one to know, no one. But as …" Blake Peters' head lolled, his whole body slouched.

Jack snapped his fingers at him. "Hey! HEY!"

Peters came around again, his eyes heavy. "But they kept wanting more... and more equipment. We suggested paying people off, or doing a smash and grab, but they refused. They didn't understand how the Earth really worked. We needed people who'd died from specific industries and there weren't any... So, we used the tech on living people but... the machine it fries their brain, kills them."

Peters' grip on his wound was getting weaker. The blood was still gargling from his wound, his eyes drooped shut. 

"Jack." Tosh protested, snapping herself out of it. "He's not going to make it."

Jack silenced her with a wave of his hand. He crouched down and slapped Peters on the cheek. "I'm waiting."

"We… we.." Peters was getting out of breath. "We tried to cover it up, tried to reach them before an autopsy..." Peters was going completely limp but he and was struggling to speak. "So... they'd be declared missing with no way to link it back to us. But some got away and we had to steal the bodies…." 

Peter's collapsed. 

Jack took a long hard look and the vile excuse of a man in front of him.

"Tosh." he said, moving back to the reception table and throwing the healing gun that had fixed Owen's leg at her. She caught it and Ianto and her went over to help the dying man.

* * *

As soon as Mickey and Owen returned, they knew something was wrong. Ianto was mopping up a huge amount of blood from the floor, Tosh was tending to some stranger on the sofa and Jack was sitting opposite the unconscious man, his hands under his chin, deep in thought and scowling. 

"Oh my God. What happened here?" Mickey asked as soon as he walked through the door.

Ianto and Tosh looked sheepish, guilty even. Mickey looked around, Ianto was back but..

"Where's Rose?" he asked.

Ianto and Tosh could not meet his eye.

"Where is she? Rose!"

"They took her." stated Jack.

Mickey swivelled to face him. "But we're going to get her back right? We have to!" he pleaded. He cared about Rose, he wanted her back. And at the back of his mind he remembered the Doctor was suppose to be looking for her too. Where the fuck was he?

Meanwhile, Jack was still scowling. He had made his decision the second Frobisher told him. Frobisher might have his family but, as much as it pained him, tore his heart out and shredded it into a million pieces, the Earth needed Torchwood. So, he was going to have to let them die - unless they found a way to stop Frobisher and the 456 before the deadline, but now the probability of that happening was slim.

But if they could board the ship and destroy from the inside then they might just have a chance. And not only that, he needed to find Rose. He could never face the Doctor if he didn't at least try to save her. The others would listen, if he yelled loud enough, they would follow his orders, but Mickey…

"Yeah." he told Mickey after a long moment. "Come on."

Jack got up and walked towards the SUV and Mickey matched his pace and determination.

"But Jack you can't board the ship you have no idea what you're walking into?" Tosh pleaded, but Jack ignored her. "But what about the weapon in Thames House, all those people?"

"She's right." Owen agreed.

Jack stopped and spun around. "We can't get into Thames House. We're compromised and Frobisher won't listen. Just stay put, wait for Gwen to get back, see if you can find out how to shut down the device. But do not, I repeat do not, go into Thames house. While we're up there me and Mickey will try and shut it down from the inside. Until then wait until we get back."

"But JACK!" Tosh called.

Jack spun around. "That's an order." he roared. Tosh flinched at his volume. "Find out what you can from Clem, find how to shut down the device, WAIT for me and Mickey to get back. Till then you're in charge."

Tosh was stunned she wanted to protest but Jack had turned around and marched out the room without another word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: An Audience with the Time King
> 
> When: Saturday, if all goes well - the next chapter really, really needs a lot of tweaking. 
> 
> Other notes: Whoops! Forgot to add this in! (updated 26/8/2020) In the original I always wondered how the 456 got the "virus" into Thames House (R.i.p. Ianto T_T) that killed all of the people inside but then dissipated afterwards. Like it must've been installed beforehand right? If Clem said he'd been smelling the 456 around Earth for months. Welp this is my take on it. And because Torchwood in this AU had Tosh's and Owen's amazing skills on hand, they managed to figure it out.


	19. Day Three, Chapter Six - An Audience with the Time King

_Ashdown House – Kent_

Alice wanted to make sure her father was okay after that explosion in Cardiff, she knew he couldn't die, but the crater on the news was huge. She knew it was a risk, that someone or something might be after him, and when she heard them shut the dog up after calling up the main office, her fears were realised.

They'd come after her, even Steven who was only a child, now they were trapped in some tiny cell, with no means of escape, and no clue if they'd ever be released. They hadn't given them food or water and they'd been here for a few hours, would they even let Steven play outside? What was it going to be like a few days from now? She pushed down her fears; she had to be strong for her son.

But then, all of a sudden, a strange sort to wailing sound filled the room. It sounded mechanical, but somehow alive at the same time.

Alice instantly tensed, looking for the source. Steven heard it too. "Mum?" he called fearfully, rushing close to her.

"It's okay, get behind me." she said as calmly as she could. The wailing got louder, and through the letterbox of the cell door, the light seemed to change outside the cell, like something was blocking the bulbs, the shadows dancing around like the inside of a moving car.

After a few more seconds, the mechanical whooshing and wailing seemed to plunge and stop.

"Mum?" Steven asked. Alice could feel him tugging her back, wanting her to stay put, but she cautiously approached the letter box. She could see nothing directly in front of the cell, but as she strained her head to get a better view of the corridor, she saw it…

The blue wooden doors of the Time Kings magic castle.

And suddenly, Alice was six years old again, listening to her dad's story for the first time, snuggled up in bed and desperate to hear something exciting.

"Come on, daddy! _Think_ of a story for me!" she said, grabbing her dad's arm, as he sat on the edge of her bed.

"And what's wrong with the stories in the book?" he would ask, pretending to be offended.

"I've read those ones like hundreds of times." she complained, and fell back into her bed.

"Well, then another one hundred times and you'll know it off by heart."

"Noo! That's not fair." She sat up in bed and crossed her arms in a huff. "Jessica Dyer's dad thinks of stories for her _every_ night." she complained grumpily.

"Every night! Wow he sounds like a hell of a guy." said Jack playfully.

"Pleeeaasseee dad." Alice begged, with her best sad puppy-dog eyes.

Jack looked at her pleading face, he thought for a bit, then sighed in defeat. "Alight, alright."

"Yeah!" Alice beamed. "You're the best, dad!"

Jack smiled. "Better get comfy." he said pulling the covers over her.

Alice wiggled into the covers snuggling herself into the most comfortable position.

"Okay, this one's called the … Time King and the… Princess of the Powell Estate."

And just like that, Alice immediately lost interest. "Daadd!" she complained. "I hate princess stories."

Jack smirked. "You'll like this one."

Alice wasn't convinced but listened anyway.

"There once was a King who lived in a giant castle, it was so big no one really knew how many rooms it had, but it had everything you could think of, a pool with a waterslide, a garden, a library, a cinema."

"An adventure playground?" asked Alice.

Jack thought. "Hmm y' know what I think it did have one of those."

Alice smiled and shuffled further into bed, satisfied that this story was actually going to be fun.

"And the thing about the Time King's castle; it was magic. It could disappear in one place and reappear in another. It could take you anywhere you wanted to go, anywhere!" Jack said in a dramatic voice, motioning his arms around.

"Like to Italy, to see grandpa?"

"Even further than Italy, it could take you to the moon…" Jack leaned closer to Alice and whispered the last sentence. "Or even to a different planet." he smiled as Alice's eyes sparkled, mesmerised by the possibility. "And not just different planets; but different times as well." Jack leaned back to his original position and spoke casually. "You want to see the dinosaurs, no problem, the Romans, done, you want to see what the human race will be like in the year 5026, when we've travelled across the galaxy and touched the stars, you can." Jack clicked his fingers. "Just like that."

Jack paused, considering something for a brief moment, at the time Alice thought it was because he was thinking of what to say next, but now she realised he was deciding whether to say or not.

"But the thing is…" he continued. "A magic castle like that would be easy to spot right?" Alice nodded, completely engrossed. "And there were a lot of people in the universe that would want to live in a magic castle like that."

"I would!" she announced proudly.

Jack laughed. "Who wouldn't right?" then he looked a bit sad, before snapping himself out of it. "But you and me we wouldn't do anything bad, right?" Alice shook her head from side to side rapidly, absolutely sure that she would be on her best behaviour if she ever got to go inside such an amazing place. "But some people might want to use the magic castle to hurt people, bring the dinosaurs to this time, monsters." Alice started to look scared, so Jack moved on. "So, the Time King had this trick. He would make the whole castle invisible, apart from the doors, and they weren't fancy doors either, just these simple blue, wooden doors, the kind that no one would think twice about, that you'd just walk on by without a second glance... unless" Jack smiled at Alice, who was still completely captivated. "Unless you knew the secret, unless you were lucky enough for the Time King to let you stay in his magic castle. Because, once you did and you saw those doors, you knew you'd be safe. So it didn't matter if you were running for a nuclear bomb, being chased by a heard of flesh eating zebra monsters, or running for your life, completely naked, after duc… er.. running away from some guys human eating wife, who you swear had no idea was married, like honestly not a clue,…"

"Daddd" Alice complained, rolling her eyes.

"Okay, okay." he conceded, before smirking. "See I told you, you'd like it." then his expression turned serious, so much so that even as a child it disturbed her. "And now you know how to find the Time King's magic castle, so if you're ever in trouble, if your life is ever in danger and you see those blue, wooden doors, that's where you run to, got it?"

Alice nodded, a little frightened. "Well, I think that's enough for tonight." Jack said, tucking her in.

"But what about the Princess?"

"Ah." said Jack, having forgotten that part, he for a moment. "Tomorrow."

* * *

_Thames House – London_

"We've updated the United Nations on our current plan, they approve; given the timeframe we're working with and the seriousness of the situation. Colonel Mace will represent UNIT at the COBRA meeting, he'll act as middle man between you and the other nations." explained Oduya, as he and Harriet briskly marched towards the lift at Thames house, making their way to the 456.

"I see." stated Harriet. "And what of Frobisher, and the others?"

"They're being held by government-employed security officers. Once the UNIT officers arrive from HQ we'll take them to the Tower for questioning. Dekker has been most forth coming with information and has provided us with some equipment that the Doctor may find helpful." answered Oduya as they stepped into the lift.

There was a brief pause as the doors closed and the lift ascended. "And what of the Doctor?" Harriet asked.

"We assume he's still at Ashdown house. I've dispatched a unit to the location to collect further evidence, but as it's a 26 mile drive from HQ and may take some time. I will return to Frobisher's office once I'm finished here to update the Doctor and Miss Jones when they return."

"Very well, is there anything else I need to be aware of?"

"The UN has requested there be a camera present in the room to record the proceedings, there's a crew waiting for you on the top floor." the Colonel paused for a moment. "To be frank, they are the only qualified technicians we could find on such short notice, and have no experience with inter-galactic negotiations."

"I see… well I'll guess I'll just have to make do, as is often the case with these things."

Oduya nodded. "Mam."

The lift dinged and the doors opened. A group of young looking intern-types, equipped with a heavy duty camera and microphone were waiting nervously by the door. It was obvious from their posture and expressions that they were terrified.

Harriet pushed down her initial doubts about the crew, and stepped forward. "Harriet Jones, former Prime Minister, now acting as negotiator on UNIT's behalf." she said, flashing her ID at the group.

"Y… yes, we know who you are." the intern with the camera sheepishly replied.

Harriet lowered her ID, she looked around at the scared youngsters in front of her. "If I could say something before we continue. I know you must be scared and I thank you for doing this with me today. And I want to assure you, that no matter what happens in that room I will try my upmost to make sure that you are looked after. And know this, there are people working on this that have faced far greater threats than you could ever imagine, and have still managed to walk away victorious. Now let's see what these 456 have to say for themselves and find out why they think they can target the children of this planet."

She looked around at the faces of the youngsters, trying to read their expressions, they looked calmer. Satisfied, she walked passed them with her head held high. She took a few steps forwards, walking past the group, before she turned back to face the Colonel. "Thank you, Colonel Oduya, I think we can take it from here."

Colonel Oduya smirked approvingly. "Mam." he pressed the button on the lift, closing the doors and as they were sliding shut he saluted her.

"Right." said Harriet. "Let's begin, stay behind me and try and get as much footage as you can of the creatures, it may help in identifying them."

The group nodded in understanding, and with that Harriet marched towards the room where the 456 were waiting, the young interns following cautiously behind her.

* * *

_Ashdown House_

Alice still couldn't believe it the Time King's castle, by the time she snapped out of it she could hear the soldier from the facility yelling and the unmistakeable sound of guns being readied. Alice stepped back and shielded Steven, who she could tell was terrified.

"Stop there's a child in here!" she called, not for the guards but for the Time King. From the stories she knew he was dangerous, more dangerous than her father and that was saying something. He could destroy whole worlds, stop entire armies, being governments to their knees.

But she also remembered; he was kind.

She just really hoped Jack wasn't making that part up.

There was a more fearsome eruption of yelling, it seemed to be just the one person, but it was too difficult to make out what was being said. A few seconds, later Alice heard a mass of stomping boots, getting more and more distant as the seconds passed.

"Hello?" a voice called from the corridor. "You said there's a child, are they alright?"

Alice paused, undecided whether to speak or not, she was scared but she also needed to get Steven out of here.

She really, _really_ hoped her dad was making that part up about him being kind.

"Umm… yes.. in here." she stuttered.

The dark brown eyes of a man appeared in the letter box. Alice tensed but put on a brave face. He looked around until his eyes fell on Steven.

"Hello." he said with a friendly smile. "I'm the Doctor, what's your name?" he asked Steven as he spoke a young, dark-skinned woman also peered through the corner of the letterbox.

"Steven." he replied hesitantly, hiding behind his mum. "I'm Steven Carter."

"Steven Carter, that's a nice name. Hello Steven Carter." the man smiled warmly again.

"Hello." replied Steven, still not sure, but more confident than before.

The Doctor looked puzzled for a moment. "Well, Steven Carter, I was wondering if you know someone called Captain Jack Harkness? He's a friend of mine, you see, and, well, there's been a bit of a mix up with the paperwork; it seems they might've locked up the wrong people. I mean, honestly you'd think with all the red tape these days that someone would've spotted the mistake earlier." he jokily complained.

Steven looked towards Alice excitedly before turning back to the Doctor. "We know Jack!" Steven exclaimed. "He's my uncle." he pointed to Alice. "My mum said there was a mistake but I didn't believe her."

Alice's face fell, turning sad. Steven was a bright boy, but given the circumstances what else could she do? Tell him the truth? That they might be imprisoned here forever? "Well see you should believe me more." she said playfully nudging him. Steven beamed and giggled, happy - in his mind - that the ordeal was over and it really was just a big misunderstanding.

"Quite right." said the Doctor. "And what's your mum's name?"

"Alice, Alice Carter." Steven replied.

"Well, Steven Carter, Alice Carter, hold on, I'll get you out in a jiffy."

The Doctor and Martha stepped back from the opening so they were out of view from the letter box opening. There was the electronic buzzing sound of the sonic before Alice and Steven heard the lock clang open.

"There we go." said the Doctor, one hand holding the door open and the other gesturing for Steven and Alice to leave the cell. "This is Martha by the way." he nodded towards the young woman.

"Hello Martha." said Steven. "I'm Steven."

Martha looked a bit taken back, she wasn't really sure how to act with a child in this sort of situation, but after a few moments offered her hand to Steven. "Nice to meet you." Steven took her hand and Martha shook his wildly, causing Steven to laugh.

Meanwhile Alice looked at the Doctor. "Thank you." she said quietly.

"Don't mention it." said the Doctor in the same volume. "Any friend of Jack's is a friend of mine."

Then Steven caught sight of the blue box and his face changed.

Sometimes, Steven was _too_ bright for his own good.

Alice had liked the stories so much as a child that she'd told Steven. And now he'd realised just who this was.

"Is that yours?!" Steven squealed excitedly.

The Doctor and Martha's face fell and they shared a puzzled glance between them. "Maybe…" said the Doctor. "Why?"

Alice gave Steven her biggest, don't you dare death glare she could muster, along with a slow shake of her head, and hoped the Doctor and Martha were too focused on him to notice.

"Err…" Steven said, catching his mum's warning. "It just looks really cool." he said unconvincingly.

The Doctor thought, glancing at Alice before deciding to drop it. "Well that's good because we need to go inside, just for a bit, I've got a bit of a busy schedule you see and it'd be easier if I took you two with me."

Alice's eyes popped. If he thought that he was dragging Steven head-first into one of those life threatening adventures that always seemed to happen then he had another thing coming, no matter who he was.

"Nothing dangerous." the Doctor added quickly, sensing Alice's brewing fury. "Just to London, there's something I need to do there… if that's alright with you?" he looked questioningly at Alice.

Alice thought long and hard, she wanted Steven safe. The stories were always so dangerous, but then again this whole current situation was dangerous, danger was unavoidable, and if that was the case then the person who could keep her son safe was standing right in front of her.

"Please mum." Steven asked as politely as he could, eyes pleading.

She gave up with a sigh, hiding how worried she really was. "Oh, go on then."

"Yeah!" said Steven excitedly and raced off towards the front of the Tardis before anyone could stop him.

"Did Jack tell you about me?" the Doctor asked Alice privately while Martha had the intuition to keep Steven distracted and chatted to him by the doors of the Tardis.

"In a way." she said. "He told me stories. I thought they were just that, until a few days ago."

"Why what happened then?" the Doctor asked.

"He…"

"Mum, come on, let's go!" called Steven.

The Doctor turned his attention to Steven. "Yes, good point." he replied happily, as he got his key out of his pocket and put it in the lock, Steven practically bouncing to be let in.

As soon as he opened the doors Steven charged in. Alice opened her mouth to say something to him but her words died in her throat as she stepped inside the blue box, looking up at the sheer size of it in awe. For some reason, even now, she'd told herself that a castle couldn't possibly be just a door – or a box, but as she studied the winding, coral-like pillars, mouth agape, she had to force herself to edit her understanding of what was possible.

"I know it's a bit strange in here." Martha commented, trying to comfort Alice. The Doctor looked offended and was about to defend his ship but Steven beat him to it.

"It's not strange! it's brilliant!" chirped Steven, staring up at the green glow of the time rotor, in complete a merriment, like any other child would be if they saw Santa flying overhead, not at all thrown by the impossibility of the place he found himself in.

Alice watched him closely, he seemed so happy. Deep down she wished that this would be the last eventful thing of the day, so that he'd go home with this memory clear in his mind and not being chased and having guns pointing in his face.

"Oh Steven Carter, what an amazing response! Phenomenal!" the Doctor announced proudly, he was about to take his coat off to throw on the console, but stopped himself mid-way and readjusted it instead.

Steven smiled shyly, glad for the praise, following the Doctor as he approached the console and began tinkering away. "What are you doing?" Steven asked keenly.

"Oh." said the Doctor, surprised. People didn't usually ask him that, they just sort of let him get on with it. "Emm, I'm adjusting the settings, so that my ship – that's this place – can take us where we need to go."

Steven looked on in wonderment at the console. "So we're going to fly?" he asked, his eyes sparkling.

Alice sighed to herself, realising, that perhaps, this memory would be _too_ good. Steven had always loved hearing about aliens. She blamed herself for telling him those stories, but even then it was only because he'd show such an interest in it, and ever since that thing with Big Ben it had only got worse. But now he was in an actual ship, and not any ship, the Time Ki- the Doctor's ship, which Steven had figured out for himself. This was the sort of thing that would stay with him for life. She could see it now, in five years, ten, he'd be out there, working for UNIT or God forbid; Torchwood, the very thing she didn't want. But he was so happy, so engaged and curious to what was happening around him. What was she going to do after this was all over?

"Not exactly fly, no. More like disappear here and reappear somewhere else." admitted the Doctor, unaware of Alice's crisis. Steven's shoulders sagged a little but he didn't say anything and watched as the Doctor sprang into action and danced around the console. "Although, it can get a bit bumpy in places, so I'd find something to hold on if I were you."

"A bit?" Martha exclaimed in disbelief.

"Okay, more than a bit bumpy." the Doctor admitted. "But I'm doing my best! So grab hold everyone."

Alice snapped out of it and rushed over to where Steven was, frantically looking around for somewhere to grab.

"The railings always a good bet." Martha said to Steven, pointing to the metal railing that ran on the edge of the upper grating.

Steven didn't need to be told twice, as he rushed to it and wrapped his arms around the metal as tight as he could, Alice following suit. A few seconds later the Tardis shuddered into action and jerked and rocked violently.

"This is amazing!" Steven yelled over the noise.

But almost as soon as it was over it'd stopped. "The Home Office building! Here we are!" said the Doctor, rushing to the Tardis doors.

"We're here already?" Steven asked.

"Yep." said the Doctor.

Steven went over to the doors but the Doctor ran ahead and blocked the way. "Best let me tell them you're here first." he said. "Come on, Martha, allons-y."

Steven nodded and strained his neck to see outside as Martha rushed to the exit and the Doctor closed the door behind her.

As soon as the doors were closed Steven looked to his mum. "We've really moved!" he announced. "Mum, it's him isn't it? It's the Time King." he asked in a whisper.

Alice nodded. "Yes, but I think uncle Jack would like to keep the fact that we know about him a secret, don't you, think?" she said quietly.

Steven thought, like it was a difficult maths question. "Yeah, maybe."

The doors swung open before Alice could tell Steven that it wasn't a question.

"You can come out now, all sorted." the Doctor announced, holding the door open with one hand and motioning at them to come out with the other.

Steven suddenly seemed a bit hesitant. "Come on, let's go." Alice soothed, grabbing his hand, only for Steven to pull his hand out of hers a few seconds later. "I'm not scared." he announced, putting on a brave face, and stepping out into the office.

"Alice Carter, Steven Carter, this is my friend Colonel Oduya –"

Oduya saluted and Steven saluted back with the same seriousness, gaining a raised eyebrow from both the Colonel and the Doctor.

"That's a very strong salute, Carter." Oduya commented, his usual serious expression more relaxed in the presence of a child. "You'd make an excellent officer." Alice glared at the Colonel, who quickly realised that was not the right thing to say. "If you want to be one that is." he corrected himself.

Steven tried to keep a stony face but smiled at the compliment.

"And this is Lois Habiba." the Doctor announced, gesturing towards the woman. "She'll look after you while me and Martha talk with Oduya here."

Lois cautiously approached the two. "Hiya," she waved awkwardly. "You two must be starving, do you want to get some food or something?"

Alice shot her a look of gratitude, extremely thankful for the chance for some quiet time to process what had just happened and to properly check how Steven was doing. "That'd be great thanks, come on sweetheart." she said, gently grabbing Steven's shoulder.

It was clear from the look on his face that Steven didn't want to go, but nodded and let his mum lead him.

The Doctor and Martha waved them off happily, but as soon as the child was out of the room their faces fell and the Doctor turned sharply towards the Colonel. "Find anything?" he asked seriously.

"Sir," said the Colonel motioning the Doctor over to a table. "Dekker showed us this, apparently this device was how the 456 communicated with Torchwood in 1965."

The Doctor took out his brainy specs and started examining the sort of radar-readout, bulky radio, device with extra switches.

"What about Harriet Jones?" Martha asked.

"She's with them right now."

* * *

_Thames House – London_

Harriet approached the large glass tank. She could see the vague shadow of something moving around inside, taking up most of the space.

Harriet stood proudly, keen to show no fear as she stepped forward into the room, the group of interns with a camera and mic waiting by the door.

"Hello, I'm Harriet Jones, former Prime Minister to the United Kingdom, acting as representative to the Earth through the United Nations. And before we begin I would like to make a request."

There were speakers already in the room, either side of the glass chamber, which made themselves known as a screeching hiss and crackle started emitting from them. Harriet fought the urge to cover her ears from the sound.

The hiss died down and the room was spookily silent once more.

"Speak." boomed a, deep, eerie, male voice.

"Thank you. I request that we allow recording equipment into this room so that all nations' representatives can observe the proceedings. And that means other humans will need to enter this room to set up the equipment. Is that acceptable?" Harriet asked, keeping her body language and voice steady.

There was a hiss from the speakers again. "Yes."

"Thank you." she nodded to the intern like group waiting by the door, who quickly got to work. A few of them glanced over nervously as they set up, looking into the thick white fog. Sweat dipped off some of them, terrified of the creature in the tank, which didn't look humanoid in any way and appeared to be studying them.

After a few more minutes one of the interns nodded towards Harriet, indicating that they were finished setting up. Another one shakily moved the fluffy mic just above Harriet's head, the mic wobbling as they trembled.

"Thank you." Harriet spoke to the interns, who even though only one of them needed to stay to operate the microphone, all decided that they were going to stick together.

She turned to address the 456. "It's ready, thank you for your patients. If I may ask on behalf of the United Nations, what is your species identification?"

Suddenly there is a splattering sound like chucky vomit being squirted through a hose and hitting a window. And the glass of the screen gets covered in thick, putrid, yellow ooze. The interns gasped and stumbled back but Harriet remained rooted. "May I ask, is there something wrong? Have we miscalculated something in regards to the chamber?"

There was a long pause, but Harriet waited it out.

"No." the voice boomed trough the speakers.

Harriet let out a breath. "In that case. On behalf of the United Nations, I ask you what is your name, as in your species name, what can we call you?"

There was another elongated pause, the interns behind Harriet tensed, expecting another expulsion.

"You call us the 456." echoed the speakers.

"That's correct." said Harriet, a little unsure.

"Then that is our name."

Suddenly another blast of thick yellow ooze splattered over the glass, accompanied, this time by a screeching sound, the interns flinched but weren't as startled as the first time.

"Then may I ask, what is your reason for visiting our planet?" asked Harriet unfazed.

There was another pause.

"You speak for your planet?" the voice asked.

Harriet thought for a moment. "It's more correct to say the Earth's representatives speak through me. If they have any questions they will ask me and I'll pass them on to you. Is that acceptable?"

Another pause.

"Yes."

"Then, what do you wish to gain by visiting us?"

Harriet waited for a good few moments, assuming there was some sort of lag in the translation software.

"We want a gift."

For the first time a flicker of fear showed on Harriet face before she quickly reined it in. "And what would that be?"

There was another irritatingly long pause.

"We want your children. We will take your children."

The interns looked fearfully at one another, then turned to Harriet, all of them wondering what she would say, a few of them were so young they were barely out of childhood themselves.

"You want our children? All of them?" Harriet asked

There was more spluttering of the thick flem like substance across the glass, followed by another pause.

"We want ten percent. We want ten percent of the children of this world."

* * *

_The Home Office Building – London_

The Doctor was in his element, his glasses perched on his nose, listening intently through his stethoscope, placing it in different areas of the radar mixed with a radio, device used to receive signals from the 456, before tweaking the frequency on the sonic screwdriver and repeating the process.

There was a long, thin wire leading from the device to the Tardis.

"Now?" the Doctor yelled.

"No it's still just the swirly, criss-cross one." Martha called from the console room in the Tardis.

The Doctor grumbled and returned to adjusting the settings when Alice and Steven came back. Steven looked around in awe and the technical happenings and bounded straight up to the Doctor, who was so engrossed in his work he didn't notice him until he was standing right next to him.

"What are you doing now?" Steven asked, looking at the device. "And what's that?"

"Well, this is an analogue, rotating, radar, transmitter." he explained, tapping the machine. "And as for what I'm doing, I'm trying to pinpoint the source of the transmission, but sending a low-level signal back to the source, which I can then use to find the location of the transport."

Steven stared at him.

The Doctor sighed "I'm trying to find the alien ship." he said flatly.

"Oh, cool!" Steven exclaimed, before he looked hesitantly at the Doctor. "Please may I help?" he asked as politely as he could, looking at the Doctor with puppy dog eyes.

The Doctor was hesitant for a brief moment, not sure whether Jack would want his – definitely not – nephew involved in aliens, but decided that Steven helping would be a good distraction for him while he could speak to the Colonel to get an update on Harriet. "Course you can!" the Doctor said enthusiastically. He passed the stethoscope to Steven. "Martha will monitor the transmissions using the Tardis and I'll adjust the frequency bandwidth using this-" The Doctor wiggled the sonic screwdriver in his fingers. "You listen with that." the Doctor pointed to the stethoscope in Steven's hand. "Put it in different places and if you hear a hissing sound just let me know."

"Okay got it." Steven said, putting the ear pieces in his ears and moving the chest piece to a part of the machine, listening intently.

"Good lad." the Doctor said, before turning his head towards the Tardis. "Martha next one!" he yelled.

"Okay!" she called back.

At the same time a young UNIT officer entered the room and walked up to Oduya, Alice was standing by them and her face dropped when the officer spoke, she then whirled her head fearfully towards Steven, utterly horror stricken.

The 456 had told Harriet what they wanted. Oduya caught the Doctor looking, and knowing he was trying to keep Steven occupied grabbed a pen and paper from a nearby desk and wrote '10%' on it in large letters and held it up so the Doctor could see.

The Doctor nodded, his eyes dark.

It was millions, they wanted millions and millions of children.

But for what he still didn't know.

Meanwhile Steven was listening to the machine unaware. "No." he said after a while. "I can't hear anything." he told the Doctor.

The Doctor snapped out of it. "No?" okay then let's try the next one. "Martha any luck?"

"No." she called.

"Okay next one." the Doctor yelled, before turning to Steven. "Okay Steven same again please."

Steven nodded and put the chest piece on a different part of the machine while the Doctor pointed the sonic screwdriver at the device.

"Doctor?" Steven asked.

"Yes?" he replied, dividing his attention between the device and Alice, who was writing something down on the notepad the Colonel just used.

"Do you really know my uncle Jack?"

The Doctor was a bit surprised by his question and focused on Steven for a brief moment. "Course I do. Me and him go way back."

"So you're friends?"

"Yeah, I'd say so." said the Doctor, still whirling the sonic while returning his attention towards Alice who was holding up the note pad; 'Can you stop them?' it read.

The Doctor nodded, and mouthed 'Yes.'

"So do you know Rose Tyler then?" Steven asked, causing all of the Doctor's attention to fully shift to him, the buzz of the sonic stopping.

"You know Rose?" he asked in complete shock.

"Well," Steven thought. "I only met her two days ago, she came to the house with uncle Jack and she helped me paint my banner I was making. She said she was uncle Jack's friend too." Steven said while he put the chest piece on a different part of the machine and listened.

"Really?" the Doctor asked with a bright smile.

Steven lit up at his reaction. "Yeah, the wind made it really tricky but it was really fun."

The Doctor clicked his tongue and smiled. "That's Rose Tyler always making things fun."

Steven smiled and moved the chest piece to another part of the machine. "No, I can't hear anything." he said after a while.

"No? Martha!" the Doctor called.

"No nothing. Next one?" she called back.

"Yeah." the Doctor called, before speaking to Steven. "Same again Steven."

Steven nodded and was listening for a little while before he hesitantly spoke again. "So… is Rose your girlfriend?" he asked.

The Doctor almost dropped the screwdriver from the question. "Sorry?" he asked, glancing around to see where the boy's mother was, only to find her still talking to the Colonel, who, from lip reading, seemed to be talking about Jack.

"Rose Tyler, is she your girlfriend?" Steven asked again.

The Doctor became flustered, suddenly finding the machine even more interesting than it was a second ago. "Yes, well, err, I'd say… well, I guess, you could say that maybe we… I mean…" the Doctor sighed. "It's complicated." he decided on, looking up from the machine, even though, as of two hours ago – for him - it was not, in fact, that complicated anymore.

Steven was a little confused. "Don't you love her?" he asked.

The Doctor eyes were cast to the floor, wishing Alice would hurry up and get over here. "Umm…well… yes." he settled on.

Steven smiled warmly, but the Doctor had not taken his eyes off the floor to notice.

"Have you kissed her?" he asked cheekily.

"I… I.. I'm not going dignify that question with a response. Now let's keep on task shall we?" the Doctor said _very_ quickly, too quickly for Steven to understand everything. So, Steven conceded moved the chest piece to another part of the machine.

And then another.

Then on his third attempt he bravely asked. "So does that mean no?"

The Doctor signed, knowing the boy wasn't going to drop the subject. "No.. it mean's yes." he said flatly.

When he did find Jack, he was going to have words.

Steven beamed "Finally!"

The Doctor stared at the boy, just what exactly had Jack been saying about him and Rose? "I'm sorry?" he asked.

"In the stories mum told me, it's so obvious you and the Prin - Rose love each other but for some reason you never do anything about it." Steven paused a little, a thought crossing his mind. "Rose is really the Princess of the Powell Estate right? Like you're really the Time King?"

The Doctor was stunned into silence. Princess? Rose? Time King? Just what kind of wild and _extremely exaggerated, fantasiful, completely out of proportion,_ stories was Jack telling? If the situation wasn't so urgent the Doctor would set course straight Jack Harkness and give him a piece of his mind for being such a gossip. Telling people his personal business – honestly!

…

The Doctor thought.

"Is it really that obvious?" he asked Steven flatly.

Steven shrugged. "In the story it is."

Steven brows creased in concentration before looking up at the Doctor. "It's making a hissing sound!" he exclaimed excitedly.

The Doctor took the stethoscope off Steven and listened for himself, sure enough there was a frequency. "Oh yes! Good lad." he patted Steven playfully on the shoulder. "Martha!" he called. "That's it!" and he pelted off towards the Tardis. Steven went to follow him but Alice stopped him.

The Doctor rushed to the console and started tuning the Tardis to match the machine. "Almost… HA!" he exclaimed happily, rushing back to the monitor. The image fuzzed into focus. Little flecks of stars and colour swatches of solar clouds appeared on the screen, Martha looking over his shoulder.

"The Tron-nii-Ka system." commented the Doctor. "There're a long way out, no wonder UNIT's satalites couldn't pick them up."

"God, that ship looks more like a tank." Martha commented, eyes wide.

"Not a tank, some sort of factory/ cargo unit."

The Doctor ran to the Tardis doors. "I've got the location of the ship." he announced to the Colonel, but it was loud enough that the whole room heard. "Me and Martha will head there now, try and disable the transmitter, shut down their operation from the inside." The Doctor searched around in his jacket pocket and threw Martha's phone at the Colonel, who caught it skilfully. "Once we shut it down I'll call you. Till then keep the 456 talking, tell them you need time to get everything ready, but watch how you communicate, the 456 most likely have the technology to monitor your transmissions."

"Sir." Oduya nodded.

"Good luck."

"You too, Sir."

"Oh, and Steven?" the Doctor called.

"Good work today."

Steven smiled

"I'd keep watching, you'll like this bit." he added.

Steven saluted like he did for Oduya, and even though the Doctor disapproved he said nothing, but nodded understandingly to Alice and closed the doors of the Tardis.

The whole room watched in awe as the Tardis faded from view, entering the vortex, next destination; the 456's ship.

* * *

_Tron-nii-Ka system – Section; One – delta - seven_

Martha gripped the railing as the Tardis came to a shuddering halt. As soon as it landed there was a blip sound that came from the console.

The Doctor paced around to the monitor and studied the circular symbols. His face fell. "Oh that's not good." he commented.

"What is it?" Martha asked, trying to make sense of the readout.

"We've landed in an area which contains breathable or poisonous air, making it just a bit tougher to walk around out there."

Martha's eyes widened. "Why would they do that? Do they know where coming or something?"

The Doctor didn't take his eyes off the screen. "I doubt it, it's most likely that they don't need oxygen for respiration and need something else instead. Oduya said the 456 arrived in a glass containment chamber."

"So.. what do we do?"

The Doctor thought and flicked some switched near the monitor. "I can programme the Tardis to flood this room with oxygen, but not the ship - don't want to alert the 456 were here by cutting off their air supply." He flicked some more switches and the monitor fizzed to show some sort of storage room, it seemed to be filled with rusting metal canisters, old cardboard boxes filled with tools, and horrid looking, worn yellow hazmat suits.

There was a sort of airy pulse sound that filled the room. The room looked the same of course, but the Doctor stood upright from leaning down to look at the monitor. "There, all done."

"Well what now?" asked Martha.

"Well, those hazmat suits on the side there." the Doctor tapped the monitor where the suits were on the screen. "Look like they'll do the trick to me."

Martha wrinkled her nose, they were a far cry from new, looking grimy, and unwashed. "You are joking."

But before the Doctor could reply, the sliding door of the storage room flew open and a humanoid looking creature, wearing one of the yellow hazmat suits scrambled into the room. They pressed the button on the side of the door to close it, which shut swiftly in their face.

They seemed to be aiming to get away from something as they stared at the door, bracing for it to open.

"Is that one of the 456?" Martha asked.

"No, the Colonel said they were four legged."

After a few more seconds the humanoid pressed their head against the door, as if to listen what was happening on the other side. They seemed satisfied, relieved even, and rested the front of their head against the closed door, seeming utterly exhausted.

"Then who are they?" Martha asked.

"Not sure." stated the Doctor. "A worker? A part of the gang? A slave? Who knows." He moved towards the doors. "Come on, let's ask them."

The Doctor silently stepped out the Tardis, not wanting to spook the thing in front of him, or cause them to raise the alarm. Luckily, it seemed they were too busy trying to calm down to realise he and Martha were behind them.

"Bad Day?" he asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Rose Lost 
> 
> When: Monday, or even the end of today. (GMT) 
> 
> Other note: I almost, almost, had it finished yesterday but there were a few little extra things I had to change. The next chapter is the last one in Day Three, after that updates will be a bit more irregular because day four is.. *gulps* well it needs a lot of work. But I still plan to have it all finished before the 18th of October.


	20. Day Three, Chapter Seven - Rose Lost

There was a flash of light that filled the room, turning everything white. Rose felt the ground give way beneath her feet as she turned and twisted like she had been thrown into a washing machine. Seconds later the sensation came to an abrupt halt, replaced by a throbbing headache and a wave of nausea that she hadn't experienced since her mate Shereen made her go on that spinning ride at Blackheath funfair.

Rose tried to move to clutch her aching head and she realised that there was, now, suddenly solid ground beneath her. Not the posh oak flooring from the house, but corrugated metal that dug into her knees. She blinked hard, her eyes still splotchy from the blinding light a few seconds before.

The room was dark and dingy and the air was thick with sweat at fear. The dance floor had been replaced with a raised, circular, metal platform with a thick, clear plastic sheet running around the perimeter; like a shower curtain encompassing the whole of the bath. She could see humanoids wearing thick rubber, yellow hazmat suits working on retro looking control panels on the other side of the plastic sheet. They were on lower ground compared to Rose, making her feel like she was on display. The humanoids clearly weren't expecting her as one of them pointed and motioned frantically when they caught sight of her, causing all the others to stop pressing buttons and swivel their bodies around to face her.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me." she muttered, as she processed the scene in front of her.

She'd been teleported, or transmatt-ed, beamed up, transported, either way she'd been moved from one place to another, she knew that much. And the likelihood that she was now in space was very, very high.

And she also knew that meant she was alone, outnumbered, unarmed and with no way of contacting Jack or the others; since her always-in-range phone was taken from her earlier. She tried to steady her breathing as she felt her chest tighten, the reality of the situation starting to wash over her. She had no idea where she was, and she was terrified of what was about to happen to her.

She wanted to go, run, get away.

But that would just make things worse. So, she stayed put.

She waited for something to happen but the humanoids just looked as clueless as she did. "Hello?" she said, after several more seconds had passed and no one on the lower platform had done anything.

Suddenly, the wall on that side split open, spilling bright light into the dark room, which was soon blotted out by a large humanoid wearing a red hazmat suit who marched into the room.

Rose instantly tensed at his approach, seeing how the humanoids wearing the yellow hazmat suits cowered in fear as the yelling increased in volume. At least now she could hear what was being said.

Surprisingly his voice sounded like a fellow cockney's. "Alrigh' you scum. Which one of you stupid pieces of shit powered up the teleporter?" The brutish humanoid in the red hazmat suit stopped in his tracks once he caught sight of Rose. His voice turned more flirtatious which made Rose's nausea instantly worse. "Well, allo, allo, allo, did Blakie boy manage to trick another one of you sluts into coming here?" The red hazmat suit stopped just outside the plastic sheet, Rose could feel his eyes behind his mask scanning her and she did nothing to hide her disgust. "Well aren't you lucky we just 'av 'ad a space open up." He then turned to one of the yellow hazmat suits by the controls and roared at them. "Well don't just sit there gawking, take 'er down to processing."

The poor yellow hazmat that he directed the roar at quickly fumbled about with a leaver and seconds later the whole platform rattled and sunk downwards, into the floor. The sound of hydraulics filled her ears, similar to a large drill. She looked up and saw the ceiling close after the platform had been fully lowered down to the next floor.

The room Rose was in now was a lot brighter than the room before, it was tiled white and had LED lighting hanging around the outside of the opening, but Rose could tell it was grimy and in dire need of a good mop.

There was a noise towards one of the walls a door opened with a brushing swoosh sound and someone in a yellow hazmat suit entered. This person? – or alien? – had the hood part of their hazmat suit down and the gas-mask part hanging like a necklace on their chest.

They looked human at least; male, oriental features, cropped jet black hair with a few strands of grey. He looked about fifty and was very grubby and sweaty, like he had just been fixing a car.

"Don't be scared." said a slightly accented voice. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Rose was cautious, given the circumstances she probably shouldn't believe a word he said, but his voice was calm and in her gut she trusted his expression. "Yeah … Okay." she called, her voice slightly shaky.

Rose watched as the man moved over to a switch on the wall and the plastic covering fell to the floor, bringing the room further into focus. It looked like a medical room of some sort, grotty cabinets and metal trays littered about the place.

The man greeted Rose with a warm smile that made her relax slightly. "Where am I?" she asked, looking around for more clues, but finding nothing apart from more dwindling medical supplies and rusted lockers.

The man's eyes looked pained. "I don't know, but it's somewhere very far."

"Are you one of the 456?" Rose asked, shifting her weight so she could try and stand up.

The man seemed surprised. "You know the 456?"

Rose hesitated in her answer. She wasn't sure whether to big herself up or answer honestly. She stuttered. "Only that they are connected to this place. Are they?"

"Yes." he replied sadly. "They run this place." He took a deep breath in, hesitating before he spoke. "You must do what they say. It's very important. Even if you are tired. Even if you want to run and cry."

Rose's heart suddenly began to race. "Why? Wot happens?" Rose asked, her voice trembling.

"They will kill you." the man said seriously. "Now you must get ready. One of the managers will be here soon." He continued as he went to a partly-rusted metal locker on one side of the room and pulled out an identical yellow hazmat suit to his own, holding out it towards Rose. "Put this on."

Rose was trying to process what he just said, so many questions running through her mind. They run this place? He knows what they look like? Why would she be tired? What are they doing to the people here? Are there others, then? Why did she have to wear that?

By the time she'd run over all the questions in her head and returned her focus to the man she realised he was still holding the – really grim smelling – hazmat suit out to her. She didn't take it, and instead chose to ask questions. "Who're the managers, the 456?"

"No." said the man, looking nervously at the door he entered through. "They are the ones in the red hazmat suits." He shoved the yellow hazmat suit in her direction. "Please, we don't have much time."

Rose took the suit but her mind was still trying to catch up with the situation she'd got herself into. She needed information and quickly - apparently. "Are you from Earth?" she asked putting her leg through one of the trouser legs. She winced as the smell from the suit hit her, it was vile, like her secondary school changing room times a thousand.

"Yes, I was living in London when I was brought here. What about you?"

"I'm from London too, Peckham, do you know it?"

The man's face lit up. "Ah yes! Only Fools and Horses, I used to go Deptford market all the time."

Rose smiled, the man seem genuine. "Oh yeah? How'd you get here?" she asked and his face instantly fell, he suddenly looked very lost, like the memory was causing him physical pain.

"I was a doctor before I came here. I work as a GP but I also do charity work for immigrants coming to the UK. One of my patients from the charity invited me to a party in a very nice house in the countryside."

"Blake Peters' house?" Rose asked.

The man nodded. "We were having such a good time. I went because my patient said he was very good and cared about the plight of the8 people trying to escape to the UK. I thought if I went I could convince him to give money our charity, since he seemed very rich." his eyes were watering at the thought. "But it was a trick … All an act." His voice broke. "I have not seen my family in so long." he whimpered.

Rose rubbed his arm to comfort him. "Hey, it's okay. What's your name?" she asked.

The man gave a big sniff to collect himself. "I am Eric Chow. And you?"

"I'm Rose Tyler."

"Nice to meet you Rose Tyler." Eric said kindly, before turning serious. "Now please, you must hurry."

Rose quickly pulled up the suit to her waist while Eric moved to one of the cupboards and pulled out a wicker box with a hi-tech bracelet that reminded Rose of the tracking anklet that she used to see some of the kids on the estate wear.

Eric moved to place it on her wrist which Rose instantly jerked away. "Wot's that?" she demanded.

"I'm sorry but you must wear it. If you don't they'll just kill you straight away."

"What is it?" Rose asked again, more sharply this time.

"They use it to track the other prisoners and…" he hesitated. "To keep you in line." he said darkly.

Rose's face flooded with panic. She couldn't wear one of those; otherwise she'd never be able to escape. She had the sonic but sods law it's be deadlock sealed or something like that and then she'd be trapped for good. She shook her head in desperation. "Please, don't."

"I have no choice."

"Yes you do." Rose said, eyes pleading.

"They will know if you don't have one. They will kill you. Please."

"There has to be somemin' you can do. If you put that on me I won't be able to help you."

"You cannot help me but you can help yourself. Please"

Rose could tell he was conflicted but he was also desperate and scared and that was never a good combination. "No, please Eric listen to me. This is what I do, I fight things like the 456." Erik pulled back slightly in disbelief.

"I know it sounds crazy but you av to believe me. I can stop them but I can't do that if they know every move I make."

There was a flash of anger in his eyes "You are just a girl." he spat before his voice trembled and morphed into a whimper. "No older than my daughter." he said sadly.

Rose looked at him pleadingly. "Okay you said you're from London. Do you remember the spaceship that crashed into Big Ben?"

Eric shot her a glare. "Yes but they said that was a hoax."

"But look at where you are. They'll say this was a hoax." Rose argued. "You know I'm right. But I was there I helped stop it."

Erik wavered but the fear was too strong.

"Christmas day." Rose added quickly and his face showed a glimmer of recognition. "That massive spaceship over London? I was there, I was on that thing."

"If I don't do what they say they tell me they will bring my family here. Please." Tears were filling in Eric's eyes, he was really scared. Rose wondered what kind of horrible place this could be to cause such terror. She knew she could convince him if only he'd believe her.

Rose quickly went into her jean pocket and frantically pulled out the sonic lipstick. She held it out so Eric could study it. "See this yeah?" she pulled off the lid and revealed the technology inside. "This is alien technology. It's like a skeleton key. It can open anything." Rose looked around and saw a metal chest on one of the cabinets near a sink. She pointed the sonic lipstick at it. She was Erik's eyes widen as the sonic whirled and the box clicked open.

"Believe me now? I can help you but if you put that thing on me I'll be registered or something, yeah? I need to be able to walk around so I kind find a way to get out've ere."

"No one can get out. It's impossible."

Rose smiled knowingly. "I've seen impossible and getting out of here is definitely _not_ impossible." She said it so confidently she almost believed it herself. "So please help me."

Eric looked in turmoil as he battled inwardly on what to do. But at last he let out a sigh.

"You must work hard and do what they say. They will only let you sleep for a little while but that is the only time you will be able to walk around. There are people working constantly, so you'll have to be careful." He explained quickly. "At the right side of the pens there is a hidden door leading to the managers' office. I don't know for sure what is in there but I think there is a way back since they talk about trips home with each other. It's locked, of course, but… hopefully, it shouldn't be a problem for you."

"Thank you." Rose said sincerely.

"Take this." Eric held out the bracelet and glance worryingly at the door. "I won't attach it, but you will need to keep it on your person when you work; so you show on the system. Leave it behind when you go to the office or you will set off the alarm. Now please." said Eric, grabbing at the arms of the hazmat suit to help her into it. "You must get ready."

Rose figured that was as good as she was going to get, and she didn't want Eric to be punished for helping her. She quickly grabbed the bracelet and put on the suit with Eric's help. As soon as had he zipped up the back a red hazmat wearing humanoid – one of the managers, Rose assumed – barged through the door.

Rose just had enough time to slip the bracelet haphazardly into her back jean pocket, as a cloud of gas filled the room from behind the manager, Eric quickly fastening the hood of his own hazmat suit.

"You." he grabbed Rose by the arm with such force she swore her shoulder almost dislocated. He flung her in front of himself and gave her another violent shove towards the exit "Move!"

Rose thought it best that she followed Eric's advice and did what the managers said, for now anyway.

The manager marched her through a corridor, from the architecture it looked like the interior of a space ship, a cheap one at that. It was barely lit and had metal support beams wrapped around the inside of its honeycomb shape. The same metal panelling from the medical room lined the floor; thick with dirt.

Rose was being led to a door at the end, the sliding spaceship kind. Once she was there the manager gripped her tightly under the arm and swiped a key card over a panel next to the door, which beeped green. She made a mental note that that's where she'd need to point the sonic lipstick in order to escape.

The doors slowly opened and an even thicker smog tumbled into the corridor and wrapped around the walls. Rose instinctively tried to back up but the manager was quick to jerk her back into place.

"Let's hope that mask of yours is working." he snided.

Once the door was fully open the manager wasted no time pushing Rose through it. The smog was so thick all Rose could see through the goggles of the hazmat suit were waves of cloud. She could hear the muffled voices and sounds of some sort of construction work going on around her but it was impossible to make out.

Rose was pushed along for about twenty minutes, the manager only yelling at her to move when she stumbled over one of the wires splayed on the floor. But the smoke was so thick how was she meant to see? She kept telling herself to remain calm, that the manager was just trying to employ tactics to intimidate her. But she was all by herself here.

Soon the manager yanked her to a stop in front of some other, barely visible, yellow hazmat suit wearers who were crouched down on the ground working on something on the floor.

"Work or die." he said and pushed her onto one of the workers, who, luckily; for Rose, reached out to stop her from falling on the floor. "Teach it what to do and get this finished."

"Yes, sir." they replied meekly.

Rose waited until the manager was lost in the fumes. "Arsehole." she spat.

The person who'd caught her giggled, it was muffled from the gasmask but it made Rose felt a lot less tense. "You are taking it well." she said surprised, well they sounded like a she, it was hard for Rose to tell since they were all wearing the same full body gear.

"Yeah well this aint my first rodeo." Rose replied playfully, happy for the lightness.

"Really? So this isn't you're first time being kidnapped by crazy aliens and forced into slave labour?"

"Weeelll, I dunno if they were crazy."

The person next to her spluttered out a disbelieving laugh, but Rose was just being honest.

"Carmine." a different worker next to the two them whispered, half fearfully, half angrily.

"Yeah, okay, okay." Carmine replied dismissively and waved the other person off before returning her attention back to Rose. She held out her hand. "I'm Carmine, if it wasn't obvious before."

Rose happily took her hand and shook it. "Rose."

"Well Rose, I guess I better show you what to do so you can survive in this hell hole."

The several hours that passed were excruciating. Carmine and the others were installing large, thick, cables under the floor but there were no panels for access so the five of them had to saw a square hole into the floor and run them under that way. What made the job worse was that the cables weighed a tonne and a single cable wasn't nearly long enough to run the course of the huge area they seemed to be in. As a result they had to cut holes in the floor continuously then lock the cables together with a sort of twisting mechanism once the cables had been pulled fully under the floor.

The saw used to cut the floor gave off a lot of heat, sending sparks flying. Pulling the cables through the panels took all of the team's strength combined, causing the confined suit to become extremely hot. Every panel Rose begged it to be the last one but then another cable came into focus through the fumes, having - Rose assumed - already been laid above ground by some poor team before them. The room just seemed to keep going and going, it must've been miles.

Rose and the others were on the, hopefully, last panel when a horrid lurching, throatal sound come from behind them. The whole team scrabbled to get out of the way, even the confident Carmine shuffled away from the sound. Rose didn't need to be told and quickly followed suit.

From the smog a thick projectile gunge of slime shot across the floor, inches from where they'd just been working. Rose held her breath as a hideous creature came into focus. It's skin was textured like a slug, dark grey and oozing slime. It walked on four legs like a giraffe; it's front two legs and hooves a lot taller than the hind legs, but it's chest was broad like an English Bulldog's, a thick and crooked bone running down the middle, like a back-to-front spine.

It shifted towards Rose and from above three bulbous heads on thick muscular necks came into Rose's vision through the goggles. It took every fibre of her nerves for Rose not to recoil away from them. But she had a feeling that if she did they would lunge.

Rose could see no eyes or ears on the creature as the heads coiled around her, inspecting her. The only notable feature was a short and stubby elephant like trunk with an insect's pincer attached at the end. It hit the glass of her goggles with a thud. She prayed they were taking an interest because she was new and not because they could sense the sonic somehow, or that she wasn't wearing the bracelet properly.

Thankfully the creature started to step back, although Rose still felt that it was studying into her.

" _Is there any complaints? …Have there been any complaints_?"

Rose jerked her head to find the source. It wasn't coming from the creature but from a speaker, held by a manager, close to the creature whom Rose didn't even register was there. The voice was delayed, like it was searching for the words.

The manager unfastened a clipboard from around his waist of his red hazmat suit. He checked it thoroughly. "No, Sir. none."

" _Good … you will live… for now_ **.** "

Rose dared not blink while the creature – the 456 – slowly marched away from the group, disappearing into the smog.

The 456 singling someone out must have been a rare occasion because none of the others talked to her after that as they continued their work in silence, attaching the last cable to an already constructed panel in the wall.

Please let that be the end of the work, she thought. Rose didn't know how much more physical labour she could take. There was a puddle of sweat pooling at the bottom of the suit, her arms were throbbing from all the heavy lifting, and she was more thirsty than that time her and the Doctor were trapped on the desert planet…

…The Doctor, God she missed him, she missed him so much, especially now. If he were here now then her situation wouldn't feel nearly as frightening and hopeless as it was because she knew that he'd be working away, trying to find some way to save her.

Whatever, Rose told herself, he wasn't here and now she just wanted to get out, yet in the same thought she knew she couldn't. She was the only one that had a chance to help these people and there was no garentee she could come back to the ship through the Blake Peters house if she left. And she wasn't going to save herself and let them suffer, not a chance.

But she was so scared. She wondered if the Doctor ever felt like this, that a problem was just too big for him to handle.

He'd try and solve it anyway.

She grounded herself. She just needed to make it until she was sent to bed, just like Eric said. Then she could look around and find a way to help.

Rose was snapped out of her thoughts as an alarm blared though the place. She looked up and could see the smog flash red as a light siren swivelled high above her. There was a sudden rumbling sound which was so deep she felt like it shook her bones. She looked to Carmine to see if she had any idea what was going on. The sound was far too tremendous to talk but Carmine waved both her hands in a calming motion, telling Rose this was normal.

A few seconds later the smog began to clear and Rose was managing for the first time to see exactly what she'd been working on.

Her heart broke in two.

The room that they'd been working on was vast like a huge factory floor, bigger than an airport it seemed to stretch on for ages. But stacked one on top of the other were columns of metal pens, the ones at the top several meters from the ground. Their condition looked horrible, like the sort of cages she used to see in the awareness adverts for battery farmed hens. There was no natural light, a thin ply wood floor, mesh fencing lining the outside.

But these pens weren't for chickens, they were for the children, had to be. The 456 hadn't shown interest in anything else.

Rose suddenly started to feel very, very sick. How scared would they be? They'd be in this horrid place without their family.

Her nausea was soon replaced with resolve. She had to stop this. How, she had no idea but, she had to at least try.

While she was setting out a plan inside her mind she felt one of the group – probably Carmine – gently tap her on the shoulder. Rose turned to face her as Carmine took off her own mask and gave Rose a thumbs up to say it was okay to take hers off too.

Rose removed her mask and goggles and immediately felt the cool air lower her body temperature. The rattling and grinding of the vents that had removed the smog seemed even louder outside the confines of the suit but Rose didn't care, it was cool now.

For the first time she managed to get a good look at the faces of the people she'd worked with for the past several hours. Apart from Carmine, they all looked broken, their eyes grey, like they'd completely descended into hopelessness.

She had to stop this.

About two hours later Rose collapsed on the wooden plank and straw pillow that Carmine had called a bed. She wanted nothing more than to sleep. The food, no slop, she had just been given would make Oliver Twist turn up his nose. Her arms screamed in pain and she was so relieved to get out of the walking swamp that was the yellow hazmat suit, not that she smelt any better after all the time she'd spent in it.

Still, she'd managed to learn a little once she had a chance to chat with Carmine about this place. It seemed most of the people had been tricked to come here by Blake Peters or one of the managers. They didn't know how long they'd been here but it was definitely over a month. The managers were the scum of scum and dozens of the original 'workforce' had died since then. The 456 were making them either work on systems for the pens or- Rose swallowed at the thought – some sort of processing plant. And judging by the look of horror on Carmine's face, it was as sickening as her imagination thought it was.

So, she couldn't sleep. She had these people to save and there was no one else here to help. Well that's what she kept telling herself, willing herself not to run away and cry like she felt like doing.

Her arms creaked as she pushed herself off the plywood and ducked her head down to avoid hitting the person sleeping above her. She took the sonic lipstick from her jean pocket and thanked the heavens that it wasn't damaged by the extreme working conditions. She easily wiggled out of the loose tracking like bracelet that she'd been forced to fasten around her wrist earlier to avoid suspicion.

Luckily, everyone was just as exhausted as her so they'd gone to sleep straight away, some of the faces Rose saw as she made her way to the suit room were twisted and pained, living out the real life nightmares they had seen in this terrible place.

She begrudgingly put on the suit again, trying her best not the heave from the smell itself. The managers locked the 'sleeping' rooms for each shift but a lock was nothing for someone with a sonic lipstick.

Rose just hoped there was no one waiting on the other side.

She cautiously whirled the sonic and heaved the metal door of the sleeping quarters open, looking towards the sleeping workers nervously, but none of them stirred. She peered slowly around the door into the corridor. No one, phew. Rose guessed that the managers wouldn't bother patrolling a place where they believed everyone was contained.

Rose worked her way back through the way she came. The sleeping quarters had a narrow corridor which had been hard to navigate through first time around, but this time around the air was clear, like when the vents turned on. She had hoped to see Eric again; but with what everyone was wearing, paired with the dark and smoggy conditions of the pen room it'd be impossible to tell even if he was right in front of her. She decided that she'd just have to use the information he had told her in the arrival area. She racked her brain trying to replay the memory.

' _You must work hard and do what they say.'_ Definitely check, Rose thought, briefly focusing on her screaming muscles.

' _They will only let you sleep for a little while but that is the only time you will be able to walk around._ ' Well she was awake, even though her body clearly had complaints. One of the others had told her that they get five hours sleep after every shift. She didn't have a watch or anything like that so she'd have to guess it. That might be tricky but she didn't have a choice at the moment.

' _There are people working constantly in the pens but there is a hidden door leading to the managers' office on the right side, north corner.'_ Right, Rose thought, she was pretty sure she'd seen the 'pens' – which took up an absolutely huge area - but she had no idea which side was the north side. The only thing she could do is hope there was a label of some kind. Her already low confidence in handling this was slipping. It might take hours. That meant days searching. She shook herself out of it. Think positive Rose, think positive. You need to help these people.

' _I don't know for sure what is in there but I think there is a way back, you need a key. It shouldn't be a problem for you._ ' Okay, thought Rose, that information was only handy if it was true.

Rose walked back through to the huge room where the pens were, sods law it was completely encased in the smog again. One of the women from her group explained that the 456 need the smoke to breathe so they made everyone wear the suits. That meant there were here; hopefully if she hugged the perimeter she wouldn't see them again.

She placed her hands on the wall as a guide, chose a direction and hoped they'd be a sign on the wall soon, trying to focus on anything but the nagging doubts about her ability; repeating loudly in her head.

She'd been walking for about forty minutes, each one wondering whether or not she was going the completely wrong direction, when her hand slid at an indent in the wall. She looked out through the small glasses of her goggles; North Corner. Despite her tiredness she couldn't help but jump for joy and let out a squeal of relief.

"Thank you." she whispered to whichever deity was responsible for this incredible find.

No searching for days on end. Now she just needed to find the door. Eric had said it was hidden but there should still be a key card panel nearby.

A few more minutes of frantically feeling up the wall -

Bingo!

She was in, the air was clear, the room was bright. And from how the glass of her goggles steamed up; it was cool.

After the steam on her goggles faded, Rose noticed that the managers' section was a lot nicer than where they had been working. Instead of the metal panelling on the floor; wooden lino took its place. The walls were actually painted and had artwork hanging up rather than the bare metal of the – Rose assumed – spaceship. It looked more like a GP surgery's waiting room than anything.

Okay, she thought, that meant that a lowly, yellow-wearing hazmat wearer like herself would absolutely stand out if she was caught. So, it was really important that she wasn't.

There were doors along the corridor; wooden, normal, household, doors, but none of them had windows so that meant she'd have to risk opening them each time.

Great.

First door; Pool table, nope.

Kitchen, nada.

Manager's bedroom; including a manager sleeping peacefully. Did she slowly close the door or throttle him while he slept? Rose sighed, close the door… for now.

Living room, No.

The seconds were turning into minutes, lots of precious minutes, just how big was this place?

A massage parlour, with a surprised fellow yellow hazmat suit wearer, waiting for a manager in all likelihood, unexpected but no. Rose put her fingers to her lips to indicate silence, and the suit wearer shakily nodded as Rose closed the door.

A gym, NO!

Rose was getting more and more frantic.

A long metal, honeycomb corridor with an eerie looking atmosphere straight out of 'Alien', YES! Ding-Ding, next stop; - hopefully – some sort of link to Earth she could use, or an important looking machine she could destroy.

Rose was growing increasingly aware of the time and started to jog through the corridor; which seemed to go on forever. She wasn't sure if it was because it was actually miles long or if it just seemed that way because of how much her legs hurt.

Gradually, the corridor started to open up until it led out to a long, metal like balcony that ran along the edge of a sort of NASA looking control room. Rose cautiously looked over the edge of the railing, being sure to keep her body low to avoid detection. At the centre there was a large, wire birdcage structure; about two stories high, interwoven with wires and plastic tubing. From Rose's position on the balcony she could only see the top of the cage and couldn't get a good look at the centre. The base of the cage structure seemed to be raised slightly higher than the rest of the lower floor, all the machines and control panels seemed to face the structure in a circular layout, and the managers working the machines all seemed to glance at the centre of the cage.

Something important was in the middle, Rose knew that much.

Rose heard a noise behind her, it sounded like footsteps but the suit made everything muffled. Not wanting to risk it, her eyes darted around of something – anything – she could hide behind and not be discovered. She spotted a large gas canister wielded to the floor, she quickly jogged over as fast and as silently as her aching legs to carry her. She squeezed herself into the small gap between the wall and the canister and prayed that was enough.

They moved past her unaware, laughing about the torturing of the workers like it was a night out with the lads. After several seconds the footsteps faded.

She needed to find a way down to the centre. It was the only option. She didn't want to. The chances of getting caught were high, and she didn't even want to think about what these vile managers would do to her if they caught her. But she had to see what was in the middle of the machine. Otherwise she might as well turn back and do nothing, because if she was too scared; too worried about the risks to do something now, then there would never be a right time. She swallowed down her fear and let out a long breath in an attempt to slow her racing heart.

She could do this. She could do it. She tried to convince herself. She'd done far more dangerous things before this. She sighed. But before she had the Doctor, she was useless on her own, just look at Christmas, and her time at Torchwood on Pete's world. And now she didn't have Mickey or Jack to pick up her slack.

She let out another long breath. And being sure to wait an extra minute or so; to be certain they really were gone, Rose ungracefully wiggled out of the gap.

She decided that the managers from earlier would be heading down to the lower platform so she tried to follow where they'd gone, hoping it would lead to some stairs or a lift. It didn't take long for her to find the wide, spiral, metal, staircase curving down to the lower floor.

She weaved and ducked behind various metal columns and giant gas canisters, slowly making her way to the NASA like control room. She peered her head around the last corner. There was a single bright stream of light that shone into the middle of the base of the cage like structure. Rose followed it with her eyes.

Then she her breath caught, her heart plummeted as she saw what was in the middle.

It was a child.

Clothes ragged and worn, their skin sickly and discoloured, with an unhealthy slime grey tinge to it. There was a breathing mask covering their mouth and nose but it seemed to be burrowing into their skin, the edges of the mask looking like roots in soil.

Their piecing green eyes moved, looking directly into hers, like only they could sense her presence. Their and Rose's eyes locked for the longest time before a single tear trickled down their small, chubby cheeked, face.

Rose couldn't take in anymore. She became flustered, the horror of what she was seeing starting to catch up with her and overwhelm her.

She needed to get out NOW.

She didn't care if anyone saw her or not and ran into the nearest closed door she could find, buzzing the sonic at the key-card panel.

She slid the door shut with a thud. She couldn't breathe in this stupid heavy suit, she couldn't stand this horrible place! She rested her head against the door; trying to steady her breathing as it became ragged. Her body was sore and weak from the hours of work, her nerves were shattered from being on the run from Frobisher. Seeing the child wired in like that was the straw that broke the camel's back.

These people, the managers, the 456; they were monsters. Not just murderous monsters who went around killing people left, right and centre. But rotten to the core, depraved, cruel… monsters.

How the hell was _she_ going to save all these people? On her own without Jack or Mickey or the Doctor? That poor kid, scared and alone, wired into the machine with every one gawking at them, wondering what was happening to them.

It was all getting to much and Rose started to cry, muffled by the suit.

Just what was she going to do?

Her thoughts came to a shuddering stop as a voice spoke from behind her.

"Bad day?" said the voice.

But it wasn't just any voice. It was ' _the_ ' voice, the one voice she wanted to hear, the voice she had been hearing in her dreams, the voice of the man she really, _really_ needed to see right now.

The Doctor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Rose Found 
> 
> When: A week? ... ten days? 
> 
> Other notes: *drops head on table from sleep deprivation* This day is finally finished!! This one took me the longest to write and the longest to edit. I guess because I had to think of a way for all the characters to link together. But I'm so glad I stuck with it and didn't abandon it like I wanted to, so, so, many times. 
> 
> The next day (day four) is the last part (even though the original was five) there might be one more chapter to the 26 which will act as an epilogue.


	21. Day Four, Chapter One - Rose Found

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little warning, it's a bit dark at the end this one. Think of the 'countrycide' ep from Torchwood.

Rose's head was spinning, her feelings of hopelessness completely replaced, stopped dead in it's tracks, forgotten, blop; gone.

That couldn't _really_ be him… could it?

She whirled to face him, daring to hope. 

It really _was_ him. And he didn't just sound the same he looked the same – thank God; the same skinny figure, the same _really_ great hair, the sa-

No, not the same suit.

It was blue.

Just like her dream, but it couldn't have been, surely not.

And just like that; a wave of memories washed over Rose like she'd just been hit by a tsunami or struck by a the highest of bolt lightning possible.

The explosion, him saying he loved her, the hospital, him saying he loved her, being on Bad Wolf Bay, _him saying he loved her_ , him telling her about Jack.

It was all a bit much really.

She thought hard as her mind raced. Was she sure it wasn't a dream? Surely the Doctor wouldn't be that mushy, surely he wouldn't really promise all those things?

Meanwhile, the Doctor and Martha were looking puzzlingly at this suited figure in a yellow jump suit. They just seemed to be staring at both of them, unsure how to react.

The Doctor studied the humanoid, moving his eyes up and down. Maybe they were scared? To them they had just appeared in a cupboard with no protective gear whatsoever. Maybe they hadn't seen humans before? Or human look-a-likes, anyway. They weren't raising the alarm or trying to escape so that was promising.

"Look, we aren't going to hurt you." the Doctor said, raising his arms slightly to discourage any sudden movements. "Are you working for the 456?"

No answer.

"If they've trapped you here we can help you." the Doctor tried again.

No answer, the figure just kept staring at him. Martha looked to him for guidance on what to do next.

He said that he loved her, and not only that; he said he'd go the full domestic. Did that mean he'd put up with her mum full time? Now, that in itself was an impressive commitment from any potential partner but for him to say it… well.

It said it all really didn't it…

She'd gone mad, finally, properly, lost it.

But after a few moments a splitting grin spread across her face as another wave of memories hit her.

They'd kissed. Like properly, snogged.

And that _wasn't_ a dream. She knew for sure. It felt different. It was stronger, an actual memory, she could remember the events linearly, she could recall her surroundings, their conversation, how he held her in his arms as she woke up; she could remember what that felt like; the sensation of the pressure on her back from his hand. In fact she could remember what all her senses were going through at the time; the smell of the fire, the smell of him… the taste…Blimey.

She went red.

She was floored.

This was absolutely brilliant, phenomenal -

She smiled even more -

 _fantastic_.

Meanwhile, the figure was still staring at them. Maybe, because they didn't understand? The Doctor was speaking English but the Tardis wasn't translating at all, but maybe that was because the figure had some sort of telepathic ability which blocked the Tardis from accessing their language, it happened occasionally, but usually it was overridden when the person talked and this figure still hadn't uttered a word. "Can you understand me?" the Doctor asked gently. "We're not going to hurt you." He took a step closer.

The creature suddenly sharply turned to look at Martha and the Doctor and Martha both tensed, the Doctor stepped back, putting a protective arm out to shield Martha.

Who's she? Rose thought, wrinkling her nose as she noticed Martha for the first time. Because if the Doctor thought this was going to be a 'queen and mistress' scenario then he had a rude awakening coming his way and maybe a strong Tyler slap for good measure.

Rose pushed down her jealousy; no, she was not going to act that way again. Sarah – Jane was a good friend now, and the sonic lipstick was the only reason she had managed to make it here in the first place. And besides, she knew that the Doctor needed people to travel with and that didn't always mean they were 'like that.'

She looked back at him. He was protecting the new girl from something. It took Rose a few more seconds to realise it was her. Of course, she still had the mask on. He didn't know it was her. He thought she was just someone from the ship. He was here to stop the 456.

He spoke. "Look, we want to help you. What about your name? Can you tell me that?"

Oh, had he been speaking this whole time? Rose hadn't noticed. Well in her defence she was going through the motions a little bit over here. Both the Doctor and the new girl didn't have masks on, so most likely the Doctor had done something with the Tardis shielding or something; which meant that the air was okay for her too. Now she just needed to think of something clever to say, that was their 'thing' after all. But as she breathed in another stuffy breath from the suit she remembered, quite quickly, that the suit absolutely reeked, her hair was a mess, she didn't have any make-up on and she'd just been working her arse off for God knows how long. Not exactly how she pictured herself looking seeing him again. Oh well, he'd just have to deal with it, and she knew he wouldn't really care even if he did make some typical rude or awkward Doctor-ish comment about it.

She smiled again, well, he loved her after all.

The Doctor tensed as he carefully watched the figure move to take off the mask part of their hazmat suit; cautious of their seemingly erratic movements. Maybe they weren't able to speak with something covering their face?

The figure pushed off their mask and the Doctor's breath caught and his entire body relaxed as he realised just who exactly it was standing in front of him.

" _Rose_." he breathed.

His beautiful, stunning, amazing, absolutely brilliant Rose.

Rose Tyler was here, and she'd done it again; she'd found her way back to him.

"Fancy seeing you here." she beamed with that signature Rose Tyler smile, unable to keep her happiness from radiating out, even though he knew she was trying to act causal.

Oh, he loved her _so_ much.

Why it'd taken him so long to admit it to himself; he'd regretted every day since he'd lost her. But here she was. All the worry and anguish that he'd been carrying since he'd left her in Cardiff evaporated the second she smiled at him, a warmness sloshing through him as he stared at her.

Rose giggled as the Doctor looked at her, completely flabbergasted that she was standing in front of him. After a few seconds he broke out into a brimming grin and his eyes gleamed with that prideful sparkle to them that made her heart soar whenever cast in her direction. He didn't stay a word but strode forward and she instinctively raised her arms, no sooner he lifted her up in a squeeze of hug, spinning her around and holding her on to her so tightly.

She was a million miles from home, in some suit that smelt worse than a Slitheen's fart, on some horrific base preparing to kidnap and –most likely - sell millions of children, eating food even a rat would refuse, but in this moment she was the happiest girl in the world.

Because the Doctor was here - with her. And she knew; she truly believed deep down in her very soul, that together they'd be able to stop the 456, stop the managers, save the children, and save all the other prisoners on the ship.

"I know small universe." he said playfully, almost as an afterthought, his chin still buried in her neck.

"You're here." Rose beamed.

"So are you." he said softly, like he still was getting over the fact.

In the distance, Martha watched sadly from the door of the Tardis. She was relieved that Rose was okay, for the Doctor's sake. But her own heart was breaking. Seeing them together made it so obvious. This was the Doctor in love. And now Rose was back; where did that leave her? Would she have to leave? More so, did she want to stay? 

"So, what brings a girl like you to a place like this?" he joked, only now pulling out of the hug but still keeping his hands on her arms and smiling madly at her.

She'd missed that so much, the way he looked at her.

"Oh you know…" she teased. "Doin' some investigating at some posh house, then next thing I know I end up here. You?"

"Oh well you know me, every child on Earth starts talking in unison, trace the signal that caused it, and bob's your uncle, here I am." he joked back in the same tone.

The smiled giddily at each other for a long few seconds before the Doctor couldn't contain it any longer quickly pulled her into a hug again, still grinning like the giant outer space idiot he was. Rose squeezed him just as enthusiastically back, her smiled matching his.

Martha stirred a little, the 'never waste time on a hug' Doctor was doing an awful lot of wasting time… hugging. She wasn't sure if she should give them some space or say something she felt really awkward.

After a few moments, it was Rose who glanced her way and broke the hug, not the Doctor; who, realised she was looking at something and followed her line of sight, seemingly having completely forgotten about Martha even though he was talking to her a few moments ago.

That stung. Although, Martha tried her best not to show it.

"Ah, right." he said, suddenly sounding nervous. "Martha Jones, Rose Tyler, Rose Tyler, Martha Jones." the Doctor said getting a bit twitchy, and running one hand through his hair on the back of his head, gesturing to each of the women with the other.

Martha gave her best polite smile, trying desperately to think of something to break the ice and lessen the tension. She knew how it must look to Rose, a new woman with him, flying about in the Tardis. But of course there wasn't anything like that going on. "Hi, nice to meet you at last, he never shuts up about you." she decided on, walking up to her and offering her hand.

Rose seemed to study her a little, before plastering on a customer service smile. "Yeah, nice to meet you." she said, accepting Martha's hand, choosing to ignore the 'never shuts up about you' part, not wanting to unpick _that_ right off the bat. Rose paused a little, thinking of what to say in this really weird situation. "So, are you from Earth or…"

"Oh, yeah. Earth 2007. Well I wasn't born in 2007 that's when he picked me up."

"Did he blow up your job?" Rose asked cheekily.

"You actually blew up her job?" Martha asked in disbelief, glaring wide-eyed at the Doctor.

"Oi!" the Doctor protested. "I resent that statement, you tell me another way to effectively destroy a relay device."

"You said it was on the roof!" Rose argued. "You didn't 'av to blow the whole shop up did you?"

The Doctor's mouth hung open for a few moments before he snapped it shut. "Yes, well, I may have _slightly_ overestimated the potency of the explosive, but it remains to be said. And anyway what are we all doing having a good chin-wag when we've got the 456 to stop." The Doctor said quickly, moving to grab two of the yellow hazmat suits hanging on the shelving. "Shame about the poisonous gas, oh well, look what we have here." The Doctor took the suits off the shelf and threw one to Martha. "Suit up, Martha."

Martha caught it clumsily. "What, now?"

"Hang on." Rose agreed. "What if they don't work? They must be 'ere for some reason because they really need them out there."

The Doctor stopped to think. "Good point." He scanned his suit with the sonic before studying it, as if he could see a read out on it. "Nothing's come up on the sonic, but better do a more thorough check on the Tardis." He wiggled his eyebrows at Rose. "What'd you say Rose, it's been a while since you've seen the old girl."

Rose beamed. "You know it has been a while." she jokingly replied.

Now, Rose wasn't exactly what brought it on. Maybe it was working for hours in a stuffy suit with no break, maybe it was the sudden return of her memories, or maybe it was because her body had relaxed once she realised the Doctor was here and it was no longer all on her to get the prisoners out. But, like walking down the stairs after doing an intense spin session or climbing out the pool after doing one too many lengths; Rose's legs felt like jelly. She hadn't attempted to move her legs before and maybe that was her brain unconsciously trying to warn her. But she'd started the action now and soon felt her knee, that now was her body's sole support, begin to buckle. "Um." she uttered shakily just as she started to fall.

Both Martha and the Doctor lunged for her, but only the Doctor was able to get to her in time, his eyes suddenly becoming wild and panicked.

"ROSE!" he grabbed her by the waist and hauled her upwards. "What's wrong? You're hurt? Why didn't you say anything?" he asked quickly, his voice layered with a betrayal and fear, scanning her frantically.

"No, I just need to sit down." Rose reassured, feeling embarrassed.

"Are you sure?" Martha asked, the Doctor still studying Rose.

"Yeah, yeah." Rose said quickly, going to take another step but failing and having to grip onto the Doctor for support. He held her tighter.

"Martha, open the doors." he said in a fluster, nodding to the Tardis.

Martha obeyed and the Doctor kept one arm around her waist and went to place his free hand under Rose's knees to lift her up but Rose lightly pushed his hand away. "No." she said, wanting to carry her own weight.

The Doctor reluctantly removed his hand, and instead supported her by wrapping both his arms even around her waist and hauled her forward.

The Doctor paced through the doors, heading straight for the med bay but Rose waved her hand out towards the captain's chair.

"No, I just need to sit down."

The Doctor quickly looked towards the corridor leading to the med bay, then back to the captain's chair. He let out a sigh and helped Rose over to the chair.

"Thanks, bit of a long day." Rose said tiredly.

As soon as Rose was sat on the chair the Doctor was scanning her with the sonic screwdriver. She waved off the blue light in her face. "'M okay."

"You're badly dehydrated Rose, and your internal body temperature is above normal, not to mention your burning your energy reserves. I bit of a long day is a bit of an understatement don't you think?" he said, with a undertone of anger in his voice. He voice turned darker. "What did they do to you?"

Rose didn't say anything, trying instead to focus on getting her legs back in working order.

The Doctor studied her, before turning to Martha. "Martha get her some water and something to eat."

Martha tilted her head, looking a little confused.

" _Please_." the Doctor added, sitting next to Rose and putting a comforting arm around her.

"Sure." Martha replied, before quickly leaving the console room in a haste.

The Doctor's eyes followed Martha until she left the console room. He quickly snapped his attention back to Rose. "Rose," he said lowly. "What did they do?"

Rose waved him off. "Nothing, really."

"Rose." the Doctor warned. They'd hurt her.

"Seriously, they made me lift these tube things, that's it."

"Tube things?" the Doctor asked, confused.

" _Heavy_ , tube things, my legs are hurting from lifting, and doing it in this –" Rose tugged at the collar of the hazmat suit. "Aint exactly a walk in the park."

"Oh." He said relieved, then a thought crossed his mind. "Then, why were you upset?" he asked.

Rose scrunched up her face. "Wot?"

"When you entered the cupboard, you were upset, why?"

Rose's face fell as the image of the child strapped into the machine; a tear running down their baby face, flashed back into her mind with a vengeance.

The Doctor noticed and instantly became alarmed. "What is it? Rose? What did they do?"

"I saw this kid… and." Rose trailed off.

The Doctor's face fell, working it out. "The transmitter." he explained. "That's how they're controlling the children."

"Is there…?" _anything he can do? A way to save them? Something?_ she asked hesitantly.

He shook his head sadly. "They've been wired up for too long. Their body's dependant on it now, disconnect them and they'll die... I'm sorry."

Rose shook her head. "It's not your fault." She turned to face him. "And that's the plan, yeah? Stop them controlling the children?"

The Doctor looked as if he was about to argue for a brief moment, before he let out a small sigh. "Yes. Among other things." He looked Rose over once more. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah." she sighed. "I just need a minute."

"Are you sure? If you'd reached your physical limit you should've felt it earlier. Has this happened before? How long have you been here?" he asked.

She looked at him. He was not going to let this go. She could - _not -_ tell him but then he'd only be worrying until he told her.

"Yes I'm sure. I've only bin here a day, maybe even less. And it's not happened before."

The Doctor looked even more baffled. "So, what do you think cause it to happen now?" 

Rose became evasive, a little embarrassed. She went to fiddle with her earring, but she'd taken them out during the work so settled for her earlobe instead. "I guess it was…"

"What?" the Doctor asked, the concern clear in his voice.

"Well, I guess remembering what you said and it was a bit of a shock, and I don't know, I've been working hard so… must've just got to me just then, that's all." she said, avoiding his intense gaze. But when she looked back at him he was grinning a cheeky boy smile.

"And here I thought weak at the knees was just an expression." he joked.

"Shut up."

"Glad I've still got it then." he said proudly, adjusting his tie.

"Really, shut up."

"I'll have to be careful not to overwhelm you with my manly allure in the foreseeable future."

Rose glared at him.

The Doctor made a series of happy giggles, still smiling like a mad man, completely proud of himself.

Rose couldn't help but smile back before breaking into a fit of laughter. "Oh my God I can't believe you just said that."

A heartfelt Rose Tyler laugh, there was nothing like it in the universe. The Doctor laughed back, a warmness surging through him from the sound.

"It's good to have you back." he said sincerely, after the laughter died down.

"It's good to be back with you." she grinned, before snapping herself out of it, remembering the time limit she was working against. Her group's shift would start soon and she didn't want the managers to target them after they found out she was missing. "But anyway, there's a lot of people trapped here though Doctor; like slaves."

His expression became serious in an instant. "From Earth?"

"Yeah… well, all the ones I spoke to were. And I need to get back before they know I'm gone. They have this like tracker – shock collar-bracelet thing that they use –"

The Doctor's expression darkened. "Ro-"

"They didn't use it on me." she said quickly, before returning to explaining. "And since I got out of mine, if they find out they'll sound the alarm so we won't be able to move about, then they'll go after the others I was working with to find out more about me."

"Well I've still got the psychic paper. We can say we're managers. Help get everyone out."

"Nah, that won't work. All the managers wear red hazmat suits and we've only got yellow."

"Hmm." the Doctor thought. "Well I do have the gift of the gob I'm sure we'll be fine."

He didn't understand what she was trying to say. These people were rotten, the way they looked at her, the way they spoke about the other prisoners. These were the worst of the worst. She remembered what Jack had told her about after they'd gotten back from the psychos in the countryside; 'The thing is Rosie, you and the Doctor, back then we never dealt with the real nasty people, sure killing and death and all that, but I mean the real rotten to the core kind of guys. So trust me when I say, we might deal with nasty stuff from up there but the human race can be just as bad, if not worse.'

"No, Doctor. I mean we _can't_ get caught." The Doctor shot her a puzzled glare. "They're… sick." is all she could think to say.

"Rose…"

"Look I promise they haven't done anything." she assured quickly. "But I can just tell, well it's not really hard, if you listen to them talk for like… three seconds." Rose redirected the conversation. "So, anyway, what's the plan? How do we stop the transmitter _and_ get everyone out without getting caught? Cos we can't make it up as we go along this time, trust me."

Before the Doctor could answer Martha entered the console room, carrying a sandwich and big jug of water, along with a sort of medical looking kit under her arm.

Rose saw and perked up. "Aw thanks." she smiled, taking the plate and gulping down the water, how thirsty she really was suddenly hitting her as the cool water moved down her throat.

The Doctor took his arm off her so she could eat.

"Right, that's you sorted." said Martha, looking at Rose. She turned her head to glare at the Doctor sternly. "Now you."

The Doctor looked at her confusingly, scanning Martha up and down. "What'd you mean?"

"Come on." Martha said like a disapproving school teacher, putting her hands on her hips. "You might've forgotten that you've been shot–

Rose stopped eating and stared at him.

" – but I haven't."

"Wot!" Rose exclaimed, with a mouthful of food.

"Tell me about it." Martha agreed, having spent the whole trip to the kitchen planning this conversation. "And he won't even let me treat it, and don't give me all that Time Lord biology rubbish, even you must be at risk of infection after an injury like that."

The Doctor looked sheepish, he was really in trouble now and he knew it, he didn't look at either of them.

"You stupid bastard." Rose yelled, swallowing down the remainder of her food. "You'ad the cheek to av a go at me, when you were just sitting here the whole time."

The Doctor puffed air out his cheeks and stared towards the ceiling. "Blimey, I rather you were fighting." he muttered under his breath.

The two women glared at him. Martha exaggeratedly shook the med kit at him.

"Okay, fine." the Doctor conceded, after being glared at for a few more seconds. "But it's really not as bad as it sounds." He wiggled out of his brown coat without getting off the chair. He winced as he heard Rose's breath catch.

It was bad. His blood had soaked through his shirt sleeve and jacket, his arm was still swollen and the skin still broken and stuck to his shirt as it had started to heal into it.

"I've never seen you bleed before." Rose said sadly, as Martha helped the Doctor unbutton his shirt.

"I'm fine, Rose, really." he said with a lopsided smile, suddenly wishing he'd let Martha sort it the first time around.

"Is he goin' t' be alright?" Rose asked, as she joined Martha and the Doctor in pulling his arm out of the sleeves of the multiple under-shirts that he liked to wear, which was hard with her bulky gloved hands from the hazmat suit but she tried her best.

Martha looked up to Rose but caught the Doctor's wide, desperate eyes, begging her to sugar coat it, before she returned to look at Rose. "Should be, let's see." she answered honestly, carefully peeling off the last shirt that had fused slightly to the healing skin.

Rose gasped as she saw the wound, but Martha remained professional.

"Really it's fine." the Doctor tried to reassure.

"It doesn't look fine." Rose argued, before her expression softened. "Why'd you just leave it?" she asked, looking at him sadly and putting an arm around him.

"I was busy." was all he would say, not meeting her eye as he tried hard not to flinch while Martha prodded and poked him. He hated being made a fuss over, and he hated, really truly hated, Rose looking at him like that. But, it was so typically Rose, she was probably in pain just as much as him yet here she was worrying about him.

He _had_ to be more careful in the future.

Luckily, Martha didn't need to do much the wound, it was still swollen and bruised, and obviously unclean but it had healed somewhat and was just in need of a good disinfecting and bandage.

"So, will he be okay?" Rose asked Martha, dropping the subject he obviously wanted to avoid. She knew that he really was hurt but trying to hide it, she could tell from his face. She started rubbing comforting circles on his back, but that seemed to make him tense more so she stopped.

"Yeah." Martha said honestly, flushing the wound.

"See, told you." the Doctor commented, giving his best effort not to jerk as waves of pain pulsed sharply through him as Martha worked.

"It would've been better if you let me treat it earlier though." Martha added, also seeing through his façade, as she moved on and began tightly wrapping a bandage around his arm.

"See." Rose teased back, poking his chest.

He gave a wonky smile. "Yeah, I guess you're right." he admitted. 

She smiled back.

"Almost done." Martha said, but not a second after she had finished wrapping the bandage around his arm the Doctor clapped his hands together and was on his feet before she could tell him she was done, wanting to get away from the subject as quickly as possible. "Yes, right, well, now we've wasted five minutes. Rose, you finish up, Martha head to the med bay, sixth cabinet on the right, second draw, the green box with the yellow line across it, a horizontal line not vertical, there should be this like black and yellow thing inside, that looks like a cross between a ... a sort of" he pinched his fingers together, but what he was trying to describe was anyone's guess. "Oh, just bring the whole box." he conceded.

"What's it for?" Martha asked.

"It's to level the temperature in the suits, it'll make moving around easier. We'd all smell like Rose otherwise and who wants that."

Martha and Rose stared at him open mouthed. Right on cue, Rose thought, and he was so close.

The Doctor soon realised his mistake. "Sorry, was that rude?" he thought. "Yeah, I can see it now definitely rude, I'm not saying you stink Rose… well, all humans stink in their own way but what I meant was that, at this moment in time – "

"Doctor." Rose interrupted.

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

"Yes, good plan." he agreed quickly.

About ten minutes later all three of them were suited in their yellow hazmat suits – the Doctor; only finding a few minor tears that were easily fixable . They waited outside the Tardis, ready to go into the corridor.

"Right, where's the transmitter, Rose?" the Doctor asked as all three of them peered around the corridor from the doorway of the cupboard they were just in.

"They're just up here, but there's a lot of managers about so we 'av to be careful." she said as she led the group slowly back the way she came. She noticed that the Doctor was staying very close to her, head snapping at every little sound as they walked down the corridor towards the birdcage like tower she'd seen earlier.

She hesitantly peered around the corner, and sure enough there was the child, not looking at her this time but their sickly complexion still making her heart break. She heard Martha gasp next to her and hoped the multiple managers gathered around the control panels at the base of structure didn't hear her.

"Oh my God, that's the transmitter? But they're just a kid. Is that what you meant when you said they were using a child?" Martha asked the Doctor.

"Yes." the Doctor answered quietly, looking around at the several red hazmat suits in the room. "But we can't disable it yet, not with the prisoners still trapped, we need to make an announcement, get all the prisoners in one place and disable the bracelets so they don't just kill them. Have you come across any other sort of control, or monitoring station?" he asked Rose.

"No, but there was this other prisoner in a sort of spa room, they might know their way around more than me." Rose suggested.

"Worth a shot." the Doctor agreed. "Which way?"

"Down her-" Rose uttered before she was violently yanked back as she stepped out from the corner's cover.

"Rose!"

The Doctor instantly swung for the person grabbing her, Rose's earlier warning ringing loud in his ears. But no sooner than he pulled back his clenched fist did another red hazmat suit wearer grab his arm, saving the one holding Rose.

"Get off, get off!" Rose yelled desperately, kicking wildly, while Martha screamed his name over and over as she was grabbed as well.

"No! Don't _touch_ them." the Doctor yelled, struggling and easily getting free as he shoved Rose's attacker off of her, slamming him into a nearby wall, only to be grabbed by multiple other managers as they all swarmed around them.

"Doctor!" Rose called, her voice full of panic, which only spurred the Doctor more. He savagely started fighting back against those holding him. He fought dirty and didn't hold anything back; hitting throats, snapping back masks, kicking between the knees.

"No! Let GO OF _HER_! _ROSE_!" he screamed getting free again and charging towards her.

"Her, use her." one of the mangers spat to his teammates, pointing wildly at Rose in between pained wheezes as he tried to recover from a well-placed kick the Doctor had aimed at him a second before.

The Doctor managed to get to Rose, only to be painfully pried away from her as all the managers grabbed both of them at the same time. Rose started to be dragged away from the Doctor and Martha. Panic filled the Doctor's veins, they were signalling Rose out. He kicked and fought, but there were just too many. She reached out to the Doctor as she was pulled away.

"NO! _ROSE_!" the Doctor screamed, it was animalistic this time, desperate.

The mangers got Rose on her knees while the Doctor fought. She struggled as much as she could but Jack's training only went so far. 

"What are you doing!" Rose could hear Martha call.

The Doctor was screaming at the top of his lungs. "No! Get _off_ her! Leave them alone! _Rose_!"

Once she was dragged away, one of the managers – the one who'd demanded she be separated earlier - held a knife to her throat, she felt the metal dig into her skin through the suit.

"Stop or we'll kill her." the manager holding the knife called, still out of breath after fighting with the Doctor.

The Doctor stopped and didn't defend himself as he was punched in the stomach and pushed to his knees.

"Doctor!" Rose cried, her voice braking.

But he said nothing and only looked at her. She tried to see his eyes through the mask but couldn't.

The managers holding Martha punched her down as well. She cried out.

The Doctor seethed. "She wasn't even resisting!" he spat, only to be met with a slap on the side of his head.

"Quiet." The manager holding the knife to Rose's throat hissed, he pressed the knife closer. Rose tensed, trying to fight down the fear.

The Doctor visibly tensed but said nothing.

The manager holding the knife nodded to the other manager who'd punched Martha earlier.

They hit Martha again.

The Doctor and Rose winced as she cried out but didn't say anything, fearing the repercussions.

 _This_ was why Rose was so worried. The Doctor wouldn't do anything now that the managers had her and Martha, and it was only going to get worse. She had to think of a way out of this. She had to think of a way out so he could stop them.

"Now you're getting it." said the manager holding the knife. "I thought we might have some rats when Peters didn't check in. Some government lackeys are ya?"

No one answered.

"Well no matter." he chuckled. "Don will get you talking."

No one said a word as they were hauled through the corridors, their feet skimming the wooden lino. They stopped in front of a door, it looked like all the others Rose had opened in her search for a way out, but the way the managers approached it made it seem intimidating.

The Manager that held the knife used his free hand to thud on the door. "Don, we've got a few rats for you."

The door slid open, revealing a tall tubby figure that had the sort of stature that gave the impression he could withstand direct fire from a tank. "So these are tae ones that got Petie, eh?" he spoke in a thick Scottish accent and like all the other managers; his features were hidden by the mask of the hazmat suit. "They'll soon regret that." he said flatly and some of the other managers cheered like they were at a football match. He turned around and walked back into the room. "Bring them." he said with a wave of his hand.

The Doctor stared at the figure as all three of them were dragged in. Something about this 'Don' sent chills down his spine, all his instincts were crying out, begging him to run. This man was dangerous, _wrong_ , and Rose and Martha were trapped in here with him.

He had to get them out.

Several managers entered the room with them, one on each of the trio's arms along with the one with the knife, which was still pressed to Rose's throat.

The Doctor glanced around the room, looking for something he could use, anything. The room was like Del Boy Trotter's paradise, pretentious pictures of 'Don' in a suit and fur coat plastered on the walls, velvet and gold chains with tacky centre pieces. But nothing he could use. There was one more manager who was already in the room with Don; who stood next to him positioned like a body guard, meaning nine in the room, far to many for the three of them to fight on their own.

"Right, let's see what we have to work with." Don said.

And with that, the managers next to them placed their hands by the trio's face, getting ready to heave off their masks, but waiting for orders like the grubby little militants they were.

"Okay." Don scanned the room. "Let's have this one first." Don pointed to Martha.

The one holding Martha's mask slowly took it off, the other managers goading in anticipation. As Martha's mask was fully removed, the other managers' cries morphed into wolf whistles and a slew of derogatory remarks that clearly made Martha very uncomfortable as she fearfully cast her eyes down to the floor.

The Doctor wanted to say something to help Martha, but couldn't risk it right now, and the he knew Rose would be thinking the same thing.

"Very nice." Don cooed, spurring the crowd on; like some kind of sick ringmaster. He scanned Rose and the Doctor. "This one next." He pointed to the Doctor.

The build-up was the same but when they pulled his mask off there was a lull in the manager's enthusiasm and a few of them aired their grievances with a slew of curse words, the Doctor not being the gender they were hoping for.

Martha tried to remain positive, pushing down the fear bubbling insider her which was threatening to reach boiling point; given how the managers were acting. She scanned the crowd to see if there was any escape pod or something they could use to escape, she noticed that manager next to Don –the one who had already been in the room when they entered - seemed to be staring at the Doctor through his mask, like he was in a day dream or something, but all the other managers' eyes were on either her or Don. She could feel their gazes through their goggles. She felt sick and looked away, hoping the Doctor would hurry up.

"What a shame, eh lads?" Don called dramatically. The managers all cried in agreement. He turned to Rose. "Let's hope I saved the best for last."

The manager holding her mask pulled it off and the managers when mad, jeering and whistling, yelling all sorts of nightmarish things.

"Looks like we have a winner."

Don approached Rose and knelt down to her level, he put his hand under her chin and forced her to look in his direction. Rose reluctantly let it happen without a fight, not wanting the Doctor or Martha to be hurt if she refused.

"Get away from her." the Doctor seethed, his eyes dark and his whole body ridged.

Don didn't even look at the Doctor only clicked his fingers, causing one of the managers next to him to punch him in the stomach.

"Do-" Rose called out but Don grabbed her cheeks, silencing her.

"Oh no." Don said. "You're talking to me las. Now let me tell you what's going to happen next." Don leaned closer to Rose and spoke so only she could hear it. Her face fell it looked like her whole body slumped. When Don pulled back she stared at him in disbelief for a long while.

"What did you say to her?" the Doctor demanded. "Tell me!"

Don turned to look at the Doctor and chuckled. He got up from crouching by Rose and strolled over to the Doctor casually. Don stopped so he was standing directly in front of him. "Well look at this one. He's just not backing down is he." he grabbed the Doctor by the cheeks, the Doctor stared darkly at the masked man but didn't say anything. "Hands off the blonde, is that it?" Don said quietly, before turning to address the crowd. "Well we'll soon see to that, won't we lads?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: The New 'Old Team' 
> 
> When: Ten days, but there's like a 50% chance that'll happen. 
> 
> Other notes: Yeah... so sorry it took a really long time to post this. I had a lot of family stuff (nice stuff though) and it took up a lot of my time. Also I hit a bit of a writing slump and needed a while to get back into the zone.


	22. Day Four - Chapter Two  - The new 'Old Team'

Don put his hand creepily under her Rose's chin, steering her head towards him like he was readjusting a prized china doll. If she were alone she'd bite him or spit, head-butt him in the nuts or something. She still had the sonic lipstick. She'd aim it at the devices they carried, anything likely to make sparks fly, and hope that'd be enough of a distraction to be able to run past without them recovering in time to grab her. She wasn't stupid she knew that'd be a long shot but she'd go out fighting.

But she wasn't alone and there was no way she'd leave the Doctor and Martha behind. And even if the Doctor had _had_ a plan she knew he wouldn't risk it now. So she let it happen, but she didn't give Don the satisfaction of looking scared.

Her eyes darted to the Doctor as she heard his voice. "Get away from her." he seethed. But Don rapidly snapped his fingers and one of the managers next to the Doctor hit him. They hit him hard, and he was already injured. She cried out but Don suddenly grabbed her cheeks, silencing her.

"Oh no." he said forcibly, in his thick Scottish accent. "You're talking to me lass. Now let me tell you what's going to happen next." Don leaned closer to Rose, so close that his mask was pressed on to her ear. She grimaced at the sensation.

"You were right about the hair, Rosie. _So_ sexy." 'Don' said quietly, his Scottish accent completely replaced with an American one.

It took Rose a few seconds.

_JACK!_

Rose didn't know whether to gasp from the shock, or laugh from the sheer relief. But then she quickly remembered that neither would be the best idea given her current situation, and pushed both her reactions down. The best she could manage in the time she had was a sort of shocked, unblinking, gaping, stare.

_Thank fuck. They were going to be okay._

"What? You didn't think me and Mickey mouse would just leave you behind, did ya?" he mocked quietly, catching her gaping expression before his voice turned serious. "Now just follow my lead and play along, it's going to get a lil intense. And if you can find a way to let the Doc know it's me, _before_ he starts strangling me that'd be great. I'll try but I doubt he'd be listening out for a hint."

Jack, aka, 'Don' seductively pulled away, Rose still processing the whole thing while at the same time trying to formulate a plan in her head. How was she going to let the Doctor know when there were so many managers around who were watching her?

She looked over to the Doctor to see if she could catch his attention; the knife still close to her throat but, luckily, the manager holding was too engrossed in the goings on that it was hovering a good few inches from her.

The Doctor must've thought 'Don' had said something terrible to her, because despite just having been punched he resisted against the two managers holding him, trying to push himself upwards. They violently shoved him back on his knees but he was unfazed, still glaring at 'Don.' "What did you say to her?" the Doctor demanded. "TELL ME!"

'Don' turned to look at the Doctor and chuckled. He got up from crouching by Rose and strolled confidently over to the Doctor, until he was standing just in front of him. "Well look at this one. He's just not backing down is he?" He grabbed the Doctor by the cheeks, the Doctor stared darkly at the masked man but didn't say anything. "Hands off the blonde, is that it?" Don said quietly, before releasing the Doctor and turning to address the crowd. "Well we'll soon see to that, won't we lads?"

The crowd cheered wildly.

"Now, bring me the shockers so I can have my fun, then you'll have yours-" He said the next part like it was a secret or an inside joke. It was disgusting. "just how you like it."

Rose shuddered inwardly as she continued to look at the Doctor, still trying to catch his attention. Jack was impersonating a real person, and apparently doing a good job since the managers were so engrossed in his showmanship. The Doctor, however, was busy glaring murderously at Jack – if looks could kill, Rose thought. She would have to give him some sort of signal soon; she could tell, he was almost there, almost to his limit. What he would do, she had no idea, but she feared for Mickey.

Rose briefly glanced towards Martha, thinking she might be able to help somehow. She looked utterly terrified. Rose felt for her, she didn’t know Jack, there was no way he could tell her, not without making it too obvious for the managers. Even if she did manage to give her some sort of look, Martha might think she was signalling to attack which would be disastrous for everyone.

There was a rattling sound from behind her. One of the managers standing in the doorway threw a tin box through the door to the manager holding the knife against Rose who caught it with one hand.

"About time, my arms getting tired." the knife wielding manager called to the crowd, which jeered chuckled in response. He put the knife away and started rummaging around in the tin box, pulling out one of the shock bracelets.

The manager – that was - holding the knife called casually to Jack as he fiddled with the bracelet. "I think I best start with this one first." his voice changed to a sickly tone, looking straight at Rose. Rose glared at him back, she wasn’t scared, not anymore. "Since she's left such an impression." he said, snapping the bracelet onto Rose's wrist.

Rose didn’t resist but she tensed as soon as she heard the Doctor yell out. “Don’t you DARE!”

Her head jerked to his direction, she tried to give him a sharp look but he was too focused on resisting in the managers grip, his eyes burning with rage, giving his all to get free.

And he almost was.

If he got free now he’d put Jack and Mickey in danger, making it much more difficult for them to move around and fight the 456.

“Doctor.” she called sternly. He turned to face her straight away, arm poised to strike a punch at the nearest manager’s head. She shook her head pleadingly at him. She could tell he was confused, hurt even, but he stopped resisting and was instantly, violently, shoved back down; kneed a few times along the way, causing Rose to flinch. The managers clearly didn’t want him doing that again as they kept shoving him down until was lying flat with his stomach against the floor, his arms held uncomfortably behind his back, the managers holding him down putting their whole weight into it.

“Well at least one o’ them has some brains.” ‘Don’ commented after the whole ordeal. Rose knew it was Jack letting her know that she’d done a good job to control the situation. He nodded to the knife wielding manager who angrily strolled over to the Doctor and slapped the bracelet on the Doctor.

The Doctor still didn’t resist. But he was, finally, looking at her, he looked terrified, probably thinking that was his last chance to get them out. Rose wanted so much to tell him, and Martha, that it was going to be okay, that they had a plan, that ‘Don’ was on their side.

She flickered her eyes towards Jack, the Doctor registered it, but there was no sign of recognition across his face. He thought she was trying to tell him something else and he turned away, like he couldn’t face it anymore, or that he was trying to hide his face because he didn’t want her to see him cry.

Oh, no, Rose thought, her heart sinking. He thought she’d given up on him.

"No don't put that thing on me!" Martha protested, cutting through Rose’s thoughts. The – used to be – knife wielding manager holding the bracelet he easily restrained her. "Woah there." he patronised, whacking the bracelet on with a snap.

The Doctor lifted his head to look at Martha as she struggled. He’d failed her, and Rose. He was sure that he could’ve gotten them both out once he’d broke free; saved them this torture. But Rose didn’t seem to think so, and if Rose Tyler didn’t believe he could get them out then why should he?

Once the –used to be - knife wielding manager was finished with Martha he strolled over to 'Don' and handed him a remote control device, with a voltage readout in the centre. 'Don' took the device and patted the knife wielding manager thankfully on the back. He stepped forward, addressing the rest of them.

"Right lads, now let's show the blonde her why she needs to find a new fella eh? One that knows when tae shut up."

The Doctor's face morphed from broken resignation to horror as he saw Don's hand twist, cranking up a setting on the remote and aimed it at Rose. They were going to hurt her. And it was all his fault! "No, please!" he pleaded, his breathing becoming ragged.

Not her, not Rose Tyler. Not after he’d just got her back.

He looked back to Rose, terrified of what he was about to witness. She was already facing him, her eyes sad with a pained look on her face. But, as soon as she realised that he was actually looking at her and not glancing around; her expression instantly changed. She glared at him, and it was an intense glare, like he'd just stuck his fingers in the marmite jar again.

The Doctor was completely lost. That was not the expression he expected on Rose in such a situation. What did it mean? He gave her a confused ‘what’ look, vaguely aware that Don was still talking.

Rose sharply jerked her eyebrows upwards, quickly casting a glace to Don.

The Doctor was still completely befuddled, but followed her line of sight and looked at Don. Don's presence really did make his skin crawl, sending another wave of shivers down his spine, his instincts crying ou-

It hit him like a brick wall.

What Rose was trying to say.

He scanned the room quickly, the slight signs of a struggle, Don’s hastily fastened mask, the other manager that was already in the room when they entered – the one who’d been quiet the whole time, Don’s pot belly; that was suspiciously the exact size of the missing sofa cushion in the far side of the room.

Oh brilliant.

Relief flooded him like a tidal wave as he fought down the urge to smile.

'Don' wasn't really Don at all.

Oh, Captain you genius!

You absolute genius!

Brilliant, absolutely brilliant! Absolutely, amazingly brilliant.

That's why Rose told him to stop. She hadn't given up on him, she knew he _could_ get her out but she didn't _want_ him to. Because otherwise it would put Jack and – by height and body type - Mickey in danger. Rose still believed in him, her and Martha were going to be okay. And now it was the five of them against the rest of the managers, completely doable even in the worst case scenario.

How utterly, completely, brilliant.

"Enough chit chat, let’s teach this fella a lesson, right lads.” Jack's words sliced through the Doctor's thoughts, the remote still primed and aimed at Rose, the crowd of mangers cheering.

The Doctor looked rapidly between Jack and Rose, his hearts speeding up, surely he would really hurt her? Not even a little. No even in a situation like this?

Jack pressed the button of the remote control and Rose cried out as her body spasmed once before slumping to the ground.

“What’re you doing!” the Doctor snapped at Jack, the managers increasing the pressure on his arms, reminding the Doctor that he couldn’t move. He turned to Rose. “Rose!” he called in a panic. “Are you okay? Rose!”

Rose groaned and tried to get up but flopped down again, like she was drunk.

"Don’t move or I'll do it again and it'll hurt more next time. In fact laddie, so much as open your mouth and I'll up it for both of them" Jack said darkly, jerking his head to Martha, still impersonating Don's Scottish accent.

The Doctor glared at Jack but said nothing. She’s okay, she’s okay, he told himself on repeat, despite the state of her.

Meanwhile Martha studied the scene unfolding in front of her in horror, losing more and more of her composure with every passing second. The Doctor was powerless, they were going die in here. Her family would never even know what happened to her. She looked around the room, well, maybe that was best that they didn't know.

Oh God she was going to die here, and in the worst way possible.

"Let go of him lads." said 'Don.' "He'll stay put. Won't you sunshine?"

The Doctor nodded.

The other managers hesitantly obeyed, their hands poised to grab the Doctor again at a moment's notice. They waited a few seconds, the Doctor stayed absolutely still. Jack nodded to them and the large crowd backed up towards the door, looking back at the Doctor as though they expected him to lunge any second.

Jack turned to the two managers by Rose. "Get her up." he ordered.

The two of the managers overseeing Rose hoisted her to her knees, each of them grabbing under her arms. Rose fumblingly put her hands out to keep herself upright. 

"You're not going to try anything are you lass? Or it'll be him next." Jack asked confidently. Rose spaceily blinked and shook her head weekly.

Jack nodded to the managers holding Rose, who turned and walked out the room, the others in the doorway letting them though. Jack then faced Martha, who was clearly experiencing the worst of it, having no idea who Jack or Mickey were. Tears were running down her face, she really was going to die here, anywhere would be better than here. She was only twenty – three years old, yet she’d be brave. In her last moments she’d be brave, she told herself. And tried to picture herself somewhere else.

"And what about you? eh? You going to do a runner?"

The Doctor shifted his focus to Martha as she shook her head robotically. Maybe she could just block it all out, pretend she wasn’t here, die with some dignity and not screaming or sobbing.

'Don' chuckled. "You see lads; that's how you do it." he said proudly as the managers holding Martha went to leave. The rest of them applauded.

"Now get tae fuck out of here so I can have my fun and you can have yours in... oh, I don't know an hour?" Jack told the managers.

The crowd roared and yelled, increasing their clapping from earlier. "You're the man Don!" a few of them shouted.

Jack took a bow and the manger that previously held the knife to Rose's throat piped up. "Well get a move on then, I'm fed up of being rowdy." he said ushering them out with a wave of his hand. The other managers chuckled at his sick comment and started to move away from the room, leaving nothing to the imagination as they chatted repulsively to each other about what they were planning to do.

As soon as the –previously - knife wielding manager shut the door, several things happened at once;

the Doctor practically sprinted to Rose, scrambling to get up off the floor. “Rose, are you okay?” he asked frantically grabbing her by the shoulders and scanning her with his eyes.

Meanwhile, Rose returned to normal as quickly as she could, having faked the whole thing, and flustered called out to the Doctor “I’m okay, I was just pretending, see. Wot about you, are you alright?” she smiled. The Doctor said nothing but pulled her into a hug.

Mickey cautiously approached Martha, seeing how scared she must be and knowing that the Doctor would go straight for Rose. “Hey, look, it’s okay, we’re with them.” he said, gesturing in the Doctor and Rose’s general direction. “It’s okay, don’t be scared.” But it was though Martha was somewhere else.

Jack hushed them all, removing his mask and pressing his ear to the door, weapon ready. There was still chattering that could be heard from outside as the managers moved around the corridor outside.

The Doctor and Rose fearfully looked at the door; the Doctor instinctively holding Rose tighter. Martha and Mickey were on the other side of the room; Martha still not having moved at all.

After a few tense seconds the Doctor decided that they were too exposed on the floor and pulled Rose to her feet, keeping hold of her hand while nudging her behind him. 

Rose, concerned about the others, looked over Mickey and Martha, Martha’s lost expression instantly catching her attention. Martha didn’t know who Mickey or Jack were, of course she’d be scared. Mickey wasn’t getting through to her as he ,rightly, stayed away from she as not to frighten her further. But Martha had met her so maybe she’d have better luck. She gave the Doctor’s hand a firm squeeze, which was tricky giving how vice-like his grip was, before relaxing her grip, so she could go over. She wanted to reassure Martha as much as possible. But as soon as she did the Doctor’s grip strengthened; hurting her, if she was honest. He whirled his head around to her at the same time while taking a sharp intake of breath, acting like she’d just been snatched from his grasp.

The look on his face made Rose’s heart sink, he looked terrified.

“Doctor?” she asked fearfully.

Now that the ordeal was over, the Doctor was allowing himself to process what had just happened. And he concluded that the universe appeared to be intent on ripping her away from him at every opportunity. He had almost lost her – again. He would let it happen; if, and only if, she wanted to go, but she’d almost _died_ twice now. And each time he’d been barely able to get them out of it. Now he was worried, terrified even of what would happen if he dropped his guard. So, when Rose’s grip loosened, he feared the worst; that she’d been hurt or someone had grabbed her from behind somehow. It took him a few seconds to realise that neither was the case and, Rose being Rose, she just wanted to help. “Sorry.” he said sincerely, slowly releasing her hand.

“No it’s okay.” she reassured. “Martha’s upset. I’ll go help her, yeah?”

The Doctor nodded weakly.

Rose walked over to where Martha and Mickey were. Mickey had taken off his mask and was pointing to Jack and the Doctor in an attempt to prove himself but Martha was so ‘gone’ she just couldn’t process it, she was just sort of sitting there.

"Look Martha, it's okay yeah?" Rose tried to reassure, crouching down to her level, despite her bodies very loud internal complaints. She grabbed Martha firmly by the shoulders. "He’s telling the truth, me and the Doctor, we know 'em."

“Martha.” Rose said more sternly, shaking her once. Meanwhile, the Doctor marched over and stood directly in front of her, eyes still glued to the door, as were Jack’s. Rose couldn’t help but notice he was standing so close that the back of one of his legs were touching her side.

Martha looked at Rose, then looked around at Mickey and Jack, the cogs starting to turn in her brain.

"Yeah, yeah, see, we all go way back." Mickey added, placing his hands out and keeping a respectable distance, to seem as non-threatening as possible.

"We're okay. It was all just a trick." Rose explained, smiling reassuringly.

Martha let out a shaky breath, her eyes finally focusing. "Thank God, I thought…"

"Yeah me too." Rose laughed, her own voice still a bit shaky.

Martha laughed, out of sheer relief, before the seriousness of the situation hit her, suddenly dawning on her how close they'd come to being trapped with the managers, her laughter morphing into a sob. Rose held on to her comfortingly as tears spilled from Martha’s eyes. The Doctor crouched down to woman's level, and put a supportive hand on Martha's back.

"God, this is so embarrassing." Martha stuttered out, quickly wiping her tears away. "Think I'd be used to this sort of thing by now. Being held prisoner and everything."

"It's definitely on my 'worst of' list." Rose agreed.

Martha laughed, scoffing at the statement. "Well it's got my number one spot." she became flustered again, wiping away more tears. "Sorry, I'm such a state."

"No, no it's fine." Rose was quick to reassure, squeezing her a little tighter. 

"Yeah, you should've seen me when I was kidnapped." Mickey added, trying to lighten the mood. "My first time with aliens en all, and they held me with this plastic controlling thing, I was a wreck, wouldn't stop shaking."

Martha raised her eyebrows, despite how she was feeling. "Seriously, you?"

"Yeah, I mean you can ask either of these two," He waved a hand between Rose and the Doctor. "They were there. I was crying and everything." Mickey explained.

"Really?" Martha asked Rose.

"Yeah, he was a _wreck_." Rose mocked. "So really you've got nothing to worry about because we've seen way, way, worse."

"See told you." Mickey added playfully.

It seemed to work as Martha laughed in disbelief, this guy seemed so tough and collected, she was sure they were just making it up to make her feel better. "Well, I guess I'm not doing too bad then." she said giving one final sniff and wiping away the last of her tears.

Rose and Mickey smiled, satisfied that she had at least got over the initial shock.

The Doctor started wiggling his arm out of one of the hazmat suit sleeves. Rose and Mickey shot him are ‘what the hell are you doing?’ sort of glare. “Wait hold on.” the Doctor said, his voice slightly strained from the effort. Once he had his arm free the three of them watched as his free arm moved about inside of the suit, rummaging for something in his jacket pocket; the sonic screwdriver, Rose realised. He haphazardly tossed the sonic out through the head hole of the hazmat suit and caught it with his arm that was still in the sleeve, before wiggling his other arm back into the suit. He looked at Martha. "Martha, can I…?" he asked calmly, raising the sonic screwdriver slightly in the air and nodding towards her stomach. Martha had been hit twice, unlike Rose, and was in probably in pain.

Martha was a little flustered, she wanted to brush it off, but she was hurt and she knew the Doctor would be able to at least relieve some of the pain. "Err, yeah sure." Martha held on to the gloved hands of the hazmat suit, pulling her arms from the sleeves. The shock bracelet made it difficult but the Doctor was quick to sonic it off for her.

"Here let me help." offered Rose, undoing the back for her.

Meanwhile, Mickey pieced together what had happened by how gentle the Doctor and Rose were being. "Wot they hit you?" he asked, astounded.

"Yeah." Martha admitted. "It'll bruise, but it's nothing compared to the time we had someone off their face on drugs attacking everyone in A & E."

"Wot you a doctor then, I mean not like 'im." Mickey said, pointing a hand in the Doctor's direction. "But like a proper one?"

"Well, if I pass my exams, then, yeah." Martha answered, happy for the change in topic.

"Oh, cool." Mickey smiled in response while Rose and the Doctor pulled Martha's hazmat suit down to her waist.

"Okay Martha Jones," the Doctor began energetically, trying to make light of his next request. "T – Shirt, please."

Martha looked around a little first, not wanting to expose her stomach to a bunch of strangers, or the Doctor, in fact, but gratefully, Mickey and Jack –who was still guarding the door - had already turned their heads away. Rose looked away too, but kept a supportive arm around her. She gingerly lifted up her top, examining the bruise alongside the Doctor.

"No sign of internal damage." Martha said, checking it over herself. "My guess would be a three on the harm scale, mainly from the surface area."

"I agree, Doctor Jones." said the Doctor, giving a proud half smile as the blue light of the sonic lit his features.

It was hard to tell physically what was happening with just the blue light to see with, but as the sonic buzzed Martha felt the pain dull.

"Although, now I'd say it was more of a one." The buzz from the sonic stopped. "Still best take it easy, eh?" the Doctor paused a little, his expression changing. "I'm sorry." he said sadly. Martha looked at him questioningly, she didn't blame him not even close. Behind her she felt Rose shift her weight a little at his words.

"It's not your fault, it's the managers who attacked us." Martha said sternly, pulling down her shirt. She felt Rose give her a squeeze and knew she was trying to say thanks for reassuring him.

But the Doctor wasn't convinced, he scanned her quickly with his eyes before whacking his knees to push himself up. "Right, there we are then." he said enthusiastically offering a hand to help Martha up, before moving to help Rose up too.

“Ta.” Rose said.

"So, all good then?" Mickey asked turning to face the trio.

"All good." replied Martha, wiggling herself back into the hazmat suit, Rose helping her.

“Well not yet.” the Doctor added subtlety. The rest of the group looked at him. “Well, normally I’m all for fashion accessories but this time I think it’s best if we lose the bracelets. What about you? Rose?”

Rose pretended to be deep in thought, studying the bracelet like she was deciding to buy it or not. “You know what? I don’t think it’s really my colour.” she said, holding out her hand with the bracelet on it to the Doctor.

The Doctor beamed and used the sonic screwdriver to unclip the bracelet. It unfastened with a click and fell to the floor.

“Wot about you?” Rose asked the Doctor casually. “You goin’ to keep yours?”

He studied it. “You’re joking right? Completely clashes with the sonic.” he said in the same jovial tone.

“Ah well.” Rose retorted, beaming at him.

The Doctor chuckled at her comment, looking at her with a big goofy grin.

"I'm Mickey by the way. Mickey Smith." Mickey told Martha, knowing that if he didn’t move the conversation along now the two of them would just stare into one another’s eyes for the next five minutes, talking about fire breathing old ladies and God knows what else, and he was not in the mood to watch that for the millionth time.

"Martha, Martha Jones." she said with a grin.

“Doctor, wot about you? Are you sure you’re okay? They hit you too. Aren’t you hurt?” Rose pressed.

“Me? Nah, Time Lord Biology, barely a scratch.” he announced proudly.

But no one was convinced.

“Are you sure?” Martha asked concerned. “Maybe I could…” she moved towards him, but he backed up.

“No, no, I’m fine, honestly, fine.” he said waving his hands about.

The Doctor was spared any further interrogation when Jack pulled away from the door and approached the four of them. "Right, I don't think we'll have any visitors, for now." Jack spotted Martha and smiled at his signature smile in her direction. "Captain Jack Harkness. Sorry about the scare back there Miss -.’he said charmingly, firmly shaking Martha's hand.

The Doctor and Mickey rolled their eyes at the same time.

"No, not at all." Martha said, waving her hand dismissively. "And it's Martha, Martha Jones."

"Martha Jones, beautiful name." Jack announced, causing Martha to gaze to the floor, trying to hide her bashful smile.

“Give it a rest, will ya?” said Mickey, beating the Doctor by a fraction of a second.

“I was only saying hello.”

“It’s okay, I don’t mind.” Martha reassured.

“No one ever does.” Rose muttered.

Jack turned to face Rose, his face lighting up. "And it's good to see you Rosie." he said picking her up in a hug. Rose giggled and hugged him tightly back. "Gave us a bit of a scare back there."

"You too. Really helped us out." Rose said happily.

"What would you do without me?" he joked, causing Rose to chuckle. Jack smiled at Rose another moment before releasing her. While the Doctor stayed purposefully silent in the background, bracing himself.

"How did you two even get here?" Rose asked, her hands still clutching Jack's arms.

"Same way you did." Jack stated, like it was obvious.

"Blake Peters' house?"

"The very same. Plan was; me and Mickey Mouse here, break you out and maybe we stop the 456 in the process. But it looks like that might be a bit easier than I thought." Jack stared coldly at the Doctor, bracing himself as though he was about to go into battle. "Doctor." he said flatly.

Rose let go of Jack and stepped back a little, watching the interaction between the two men nervously.

"Jack." the Doctor replied in the same tone, his body stiffening, instantly raising the tension in the room; the others listening to the exchanged with baited breath.

"It's been what, a hundred and fifty years?" Jack asked coldly.

The Doctor scanned Jack up and down before sighing, relaxing his posture. "Yeah." he conceded sadly. "I'm sorry."

Jack was a little taken back, not expecting that reaction in the slightest.

"I shouldn't've left you behind." the Doctor continued. "From what Rose has told me, it seems you two have already figured out what happened on Satellite five and I'm sorry Jack, I really am so, so, sorry, but there's nothing I can do to help you. You're a fixed point in time, a fact, and there's nothing I can do to change that."

Jack was still, taking it all in.

The Doctor let out another long breath. "And I'm sorry you've been waiting so long. But, you know I can't pick you up from where I left you, you've become part of events now… but" the Doctor continued, his voice and his posture changing into something more awkward and hesitant. "After we've stopped the 456, you can come with me, _well_ , come with us," the Doctor waved a finger between Rose, himself and Martha. "If you want."

Jack took everything in for a few more moments, before he beamed and charged forward, gripping the Doctor into a hug, the Doctor not quite sure what to do just let it happen. "Oh you have _no idea_ , how much I've wanted to hear those words." Jack sang. Jack pulled out of the hug but quickly griped the Doctor by the shoulders, looking him straight in the eyes. "Apology accepted." he said seriously, before smiling giddily, completely overjoyed and pulling him into another fierce hug.

Rose felt all warm and fuzzy inside; the old team Tardis officially back together. She couldn’t help but break into a smile and wrap her arms tightly around the two men. Only then did the Doctor hug them both back.

Surprisingly, Mickey found himself joining in too. He'd seen it all, Rose's really rough days just after that trip to Norway, Jack's transformation from the fun-loving, adventurer that he'd met in Cardiff to the cold, distant, leader that he was reunited with, and then seeing them both help each other to heal. And now it seemed they'd all got what they wanted, even the Doctor. Which meant this whole ordeal was finally over. Everyone could move on.

Meanwhile, Martha observed the strange group, still feeling too much of an outsider to join in. They looked like a family, a bit of an odd one, but a family nonetheless, it made Martha miss her own. And after everything that just happened, she wanted desperately to go home and hug her whole family just like that, even if they did give her weird looks.

They stayed in each other’s arms for a few more moments. Jack made a sort of happy, grunting sound. "Hmm, oh yeah, this is _really_ working for me."

And with that the whole group simultaneously pulled out of the hug at breakneck speed, faces of disgust on everyone apart from Jack.

"You just had to say something." Rose complained, rolling her eyes.

"What?" Jack shrugged, but clearly knowing exactly what she was talking about and quickly broke out into a cheeky grin. Rose tutted and hit him playfully on the arm. Jack just grinned more.

"So, anyway." the Doctor commented quickly. "Now that there's more of us we can get the prisoners out and stop the 456 at the same time." He looked between Mickey and Jack questioningly. "Now I take it the real Don isn't on walk abouts elsewhere on the ship?"

Jack and Mickey glanced at one another, looking a little sheepish.

"No, he's not is he?" the Doctor asked disbelievingly.

"God no." Jack said quickly.

"Then what?" Rose asked.

"I… _might'_ ve roughed him up a little." Jack admitted as he walked over to another door in the room and slid it open.

Inside was a grand bathroom, tacky like the rest of Don's room. Inside the claw-foot bath was Don; bloodied, gagged and stripped down to his underwear. He jerked his head up at the sound of door opening, and started angrily squirming about in the bath as he tried to get up, his eyes fuming, screaming muffled words through the gag.

"Ah." the Doctor commented.

"Well, I'm not complaining." Martha added coldly.

"No, this time, neither am I." the Doctor admitted.

Don yelled more furiously through his gag, thrashing in the bath.

Jack saw how Martha was looking at Don and put a hand to his ear, pretending to listen intently to Don's muffled yells. "Oh, what's that? No, please your hair's gorgeous." Jack jested to the balding man. 

Martha to scoffed, trying to hold back a laugh, seeing the real Don in such a state made her feel a lot better.

Rose looked around the bathroom. "What about the other manager? Or is Mickey wearing one of Don's other suits or somemin?"

Mickey and Jack glanced at one another and sighed like they’d been asked to do some tedious task. The two men led the rest of the group to a large circular shower curtain, held up by a gold railing. Jack pulled the curtain back and the man inside instantly pressed himself to the wall of the bathroom; as far away from Jack as possible, trembling like a leaf and muttering through the gag at a pace that made the Doctor’s babble speed seem slow. His arms hooked to the shower piping by a plastic tag, gagged like Don, but not beaten.

"What did you do?" Rose asked Jack, a hint of anger in her voice.

"We barely touched him." Mickey answered.

Rose shot him a glare.

"Seriously, soon as Jack grabbed him, he just started wailing. He wouldn't shut up." Mickey explained, before shrugging. "Got some good info though."

"He wanted a deal. Thought we were UNIT." Jack added.

"What really?" Martha asked.

“Yeah, guess they were expecting them to investigate, shoulda kept an eye on Torchwood though.” Jack commented, winking in Martha’s direction.

"Let's talk outside." the Doctor told the group. "We don't want them knowing our plan if one of the other managers find them once we leave."

The group nodded and made their way back to the main room as Jack closed the curtain on the whimpering man.

The Doctor and Rose were the last ones out, the Doctor closing the door behind him. He turned to Jack, realising that Jack still hadn't mentioned his family. The Doctor suspected it was because Jack didn't want to burden him with the choice he was currently carrying; save his family or the Earth. Or, maybe, it was because Jack didn’t want to give him the extra pressure of having to save his family _and_ deal with the 456 at the same time. Luckily for Jack though, he’d already sorted that before he got here.

He was good.

"Jack." he said seriously, causing Jack to tense and brace himself. "I know what John Frobisher asked you to do."

Rose looked between Jack and the Doctor with a questioning look. "Wot he'd ask you to do?" she asked, but was ignored.

"Doctor I would never –" Jack pleaded, thinking the Doctor was accusing him of planning to do the unthinkable.

"No," the Doctor said sternly, before his posture relaxed. "No, I know." he said more softly. "But I took care of it, Jack." he gave a wonky smile. "They're safe."

Rose and Mickey looked between the two in confusion. Jack stood there a few moments, taking it all in for the second time that day. "So, you…?"

"Yeah."

Jack charged forwards, and before the Doctor could do anything about it planted a kiss on the Doctor's lips. "Thank you, Doctor." he said, pulling away from the kiss, gripping the Doctor's shoulders, voice overflowing with genuine gratitude. Oh it was so good to have the Doctor back, how he missed the miracles he seemed to pull off, relief washing over him like nothing else. The Doctor had just saved his family.

Meanwhile, Martha’s eye’s popped, gaping at the whole thing, just what exactly was this… ‘ _family’_? At the same time Mickey rolled his eyes and Rose smirked, although she tried to hide it. Both of them not surprised in the slightest by Jack’s actions.

The Doctor’s reaction, however, made it quite clear that he wasn’t expecting it at all. He looked shell shocked, completely stunned. After a few long seconds of processing what had just occurred, he grimaced and wiped his mouth hard on his sleeve. "Yeah, well, you're welcome, although, I rather you didn't kiss me next time." he said bluntly, wiping his mouth again.

"Sorry." Jack said, stepping back from the Doctor. "It's just, I thought."

"Yeah, I know." the Doctor smiled, before shifting to a more rambling tone and stepping away from Jack and closer to Rose. "Now," he called getting everyone's attention. "First thing's first. Who's Blake Peters and how does he have a – I assume – teleport connection with this ship?"

"Blake Peters; owner of a company called 'Noble Earth Construction.'" Jack replied. "Human. The 456 contacted him, promised him money in exchange for doing their dirty work; which is a long list, our main concern being kidnapping the workers and installing a bio-weapon at Thames' House. Love the new look by the way."

"What!" exclaimed Rose, Martha and the Doctor at the same time.

“Well, thanks.” said the Doctor quickly, only registering now that Jack was talking about him. “But, sorry, WHAT! A bio-weapon, how?”

“Long story.” Jack answered.

"When you'd figure that out?" Rose asked Mickey.

"It's what me and Owen found at the warehouse." Mickey explained.

"But why would they do that?" Martha asked.

"We can't say for sure." Jack explained to Martha. "But the 456 wanted to keep it _real_ quiet." He turned to face Rose. "The missing bodies from the morgue, Liam Kane, this is what it was all for." Rose nodded in understanding so Jack returned to addressing the whole group. "The 456 need help to make their weapons; that doesn't make them intimidating. Our theory is it's a show of force, trying to trick us into thinking they're more powerful than they are. They'll release the gas, and the world will believe they have to power to do it on a whim." Jack clicked his fingers. "Like _that_. Easier to convince the world leaders to give them what they want, which is more children, by the way; millions."

"Do you know what for?" the Doctor asked curiously.

"No." Jack shook his head with a frown.

The Doctor was thinking away, his arms folded. "Right, well, that makes sense. And if true, it stands to reason that the 456 don't have an army on standby, which makes things easier for us."

"No, less than a dozen, according to our helpful friend back there." Jack said, jerking his head towards the bathroom door.

"Well at least that's something." the Doctor answered, still thinking away. "But, if they've only used human components to build the gas weapon then there's no way they could activate it from here, making it more than likely that the 456 who's nice and snug and secure behind the glass chamber is the one who holding the trigger mechanism, making it just a bit _too_ difficult for one of UNIT to get close enough to disarm it." he theorized.

"Yeah… Doctor I've been thinking." Jack began, his stance making him appear a little hesitant to continue, but when he spoke again his voice was confident. "What if we disarm the canisters individually? The rest of Torchwood are still on standby, we have the all the information we need from the warehouse and Blake Peters’ interrogation; where the canisters are, the mechanisms of deployment, security protocols, the works, all we'd need is access to Thames House."

The Doctor considered it. "It’ll be risky, Jack. The 456 will be watching their every move, they'll have to go in without any protective equipment; give no sign that they're tampering with the canisters, none at all, one slip up and the 456 will trigger the weapon, setting the whole thing off."

"They can handle it." Jack said firmly.

The Doctor scanned Jack, considering. "Alright, then. Torchwood, helping people, now there’s something I’d never thought I’d see.” he glanced at Rose. “On this Earth anyway."

Jack smiled.

"We can call around to everyone later. First, we need to work out what to do next." The Doctor looked around the room, standing on the balls of his feet, clearly looking for something. "And what'd be really helpful now is a map of the ship." he complained disappointingly.

Jack chuckled. "Ask and thou shall receive." he joked, pulling a rolled up map from the inside of his hazmat suit.

"Oh, good man!" the Doctor praised, among the other cheers from the group.

"Courtesy of our friend in the shower." Jack explained, as he looked around for somewhere to set the map. The sofa where he'd found his makeshift pillow stomach had an embossed wooden coffee table in front of it, perfect. Jack paced over to the table and unrolled the map, flattening out the edges. The rest of the group followed.

Rose’s legs were still killing her so, as soon as she saw an opportunity to sit down she grabbed the chance, plonking herself down and slumping right back into the seat.

The Doctor gave her a concerned look, before sitting down right next to her, so close that their sides were touching, even though there was plenty of room on the sofa. She smiled reassuringly at him but he wasn't the only one who'd noticed her discomfort.

"Rosie, everything okay?" Jack asked, kneeling down by the opposite end of the table from her, Mickey also shooting her a worried glare.

"Yeah, _yeah_." she reassured, lightly patting the Doctor's knee. "Just knackered, that's all." she gave another reassuring smile.

The group lingered on her a while, before turning their attention to the map, the Doctor being the last to do so.

The map was a typical white lines and blue paper setup. The ship was rectangular in shape, a huge empty room in the middle, which most knew was where the pens for the children were. Around the edge of the pen room, there were different sized boxes, representing different rooms, some of the bigger ones had sketches or symbols, similar to the electric circuits one learnt about in school inside them.

"Right…" the Doctor began, wiggling his arm out of the sleeve of his hazmat suit, so he could reach his glasses in his jacket pocket. He put them on though the head hole of the suit and leaned forward to study the map. Jack raised his eyebrows approvingly in Rose's direction, who smirked slyly. The Doctor didn't notice, remaining silent for a few seconds as he intently scanned the layout of the map his, his features etched in concentration. "Where are we?" he asked in a high voice.

Jack smiled cheekily. "We're here." he said pointing to a section of the map. "Apparently there’s a transmitter not too far from where we are –“ He traced his finger to a large box on the edge of the ships outline, quite close to where they were currently located. “-disable that and we stop the 456 from controlling the children. But first we'll have to neutralize the managers monitoring it, now according to our shower boy, the managers don't have any means of tracking one another but they all carry handheld devices that allow them to communicate, which just so happens to also be the device they use to translate commands from the 456."

Jack pointed to a small room, towards the entrance of the managers quarters and quite far away from where Don’s room was. "The main server for the handhelds are here,” He tapped the same spot for emphasis. 

Everyone was listening keenly, studying the map carefully, apart from the Doctor who looked a bit perplexed and was just sort of staring at Jack.

“All of it’s Earth tech.” Jack continued, before looking at Mickey. “Mickey Mouse," his voice changed to his usual seductive tone as he turned to Martha. "Miss Jones." he said with a charming smile. "I was thinking, you two access the server room, send a message to all the managers pretending you’re the 456, telling them to bring the workers to their rooms. That’ll allow us to keep all prisoners contained in one place, while we neutralise the threat. Once all the prisoners are secured you send another message telling all the managers to meet-" Jack pointed to another room on the map, close to the server room, but furthest away from Don’s room. "Here, the music hall. I was able to scope it out earlier and by the looks of it, it used to be the old sterilisation chamber for the ship. Meaning it can't be opened from the inside once it's sealed. Mickey disables their handhelds while Martha seals the doors.” Jack looked at Martha and Mickey. “What’d ya say? Think you can handle it?”

Martha and Mickey looked at each other and smiled. “Piece of cake.” stated Mickey confidently.

Jack grinned before continuing, returning his focus to the map. “That'll leave the Doctor and Rose to deal with the transmitter... assuming you know how to shut it down?" Jack looked questioningly at the Doctor.

“Doctor?” Rose asked.

The Doctor snapped out of it. “Of course I know.” he explained quickly. “I’m offended you even have to ask.”

Jack smiled.

"But what about you?" Martha asked, the others looking towards Jack.

Jack smiled mischievously at Martha. "The 456 breathe a lovely cocktail of toxic gas, but this ship itself is from the Yuo-Zhueng system,” Jack paused. “Well, if memory serves, anyway. But the people from that system need oxygen to breathe. That much I know. It means the whole ship is auto – oxygenated, hence why we don't need tanks with the suits. But the 456 must've added a pumping station to the vents-” Jack tapped a large room in between the transmitter and the server room. “-so they fill the ship with the stuff. I shut that down save for, let's say the utility tunnels." Jack ran his finger down a thin line close to where he pointed out the transmitter earlier. "The Doctor gives the 456 a heads up a few minutes before, they’ll –hopefully – take the bait and head to the tunnels, containing them while we get the prisoners off the ship.”

"So." said Jack, leaning back from the map and changing his tone of voice. "We all clear?"

The group nodded, apart from the Doctor who raised his hand like he was in a classroom.

Jack nodded in his direction.

"Sorry, but who exactly is in charge here?" he asked in frustration.

Jack looked a little guilty and cast his eyes to the floor. "Sorry."

"Oh, like you've got a better plan." Mickey complained.

"As a matter of fact I do." he argued.

Mickey scoffed. "Okay then, let's hear it." he said confidently, folding is arms and jerking his eyebrows upwards, daring the Doctor to continue.

The Doctor looked offended but seemed to stop and start whatever he was about to say next, before finally closing his mouth with a snap.

Mickey laughed in victory. "I knew it."

"Yes, alright, alright. It's just that my plan was very similar is all." the Doctor retorted. Rose smiled at him.

"Whatever you say boss." Mickey said in a patronising tone, patting him on the back.

"It’s true!" the Doctor protested. “And as of such I have a few minor tweaks to suggest.”

“Like what?” Jack asked.

“Well, first the prisoners, they all wear the shock bracelets. Disabling the handhelds will stop the managers from activating them and using them on the prisoners, but, we can’t rule out the possibility that the 456 have access to the bracelets as well, not only that but it’s possible that the 456 have remote access to the transmitter, which – worst case scenario - puts every child on Earth in danger. So we can’t let them know we’re here. It shouldn’t be too much of a problem, given that the 456 don’t tend to walk about here, but we’ll _all_ have to be careful and move quickly, the longer we take the more suspicious the 456 will become.” the Doctor looked at each of them sternly to get his point across. “Once me and Rose have dealt with the transmitter, then, Jack, you turn off the vents.”

“Roger that.” Jack said in understanding.

“Good, now who has a phone?”

"Present arms." Jack commanded jokingly, causing Rose to smile. The last time he had said that was when they were all together in Cardiff, trying to chase after Margret the Slitheen.

Mickey and Jack got out their phones.

"He gave mine away." Martha grumbled, pointing her thumb in the Doctor’s direction.

"Mine was nicked." said Rose.

"Wait, hold on." the Doctor said, wiggling out of one of his sleeves again to reach into his jacket pocket. He pulled out her phone and passed it to her through the top of the hazmat suit.

"My phone!" Rose cried happily. "I thought Frobisher took it?"

"He did." the Doctor said lowly. Rose looked to him to elaborate but he didn't, instead choosing to change the subject. " _And_ I have this.." the Doctor reached into his jacket pocket again and pulled out Jack's vortex manipulator and awkwardly chucked it in Jack's general direction, before putting his arm back through the hazmat sleeve again.

"Oh yes!" Jack beamed, catching it in one hand. "It's great to have you back Doctor." he said genuinely, before shifting his focus to his vortex manipulator. "Thought I’d lost this for good." 

“What is that thing?” Martha asked, studying the device, while the Doctor clicked his fingers towards Mickey who begrudgingly handed the Doctor his phone. The Doctor started tinkering with it using the sonic, his tongue sticking out as he concentrated.

“Used to be a Time Agent.” Jack explained, sliding his phone across the table to where the Doctor was sitting. 

“What, and your human?” Martha asked.

“Well my great-grandma supposedly married a Chebtafa, but according to the scans, yeah.” 

Martha looked at him like he grew another head.

“He’s from the 51st century.” Rose explained.

“Seriously?” Martha asked, stunned. “And we’ve invented time travel by then?”

Jack winked.

“That’s amazing, and what you were like a secret agent, then? But with time travel?”

The Doctor scoffed.

Jack smiled mischievously, loving the attention. “Something like that.”

" _ANY_ way." the Doctor began, having finished tinkering with Jack and Mickey’s phones. “Universal roaming done.” he passed the phones back to them. “You can call anywhere in the universe now. Help us stay in contact.” He puffed air out his cheeks as Mickey and Jack inspected their phones. "Right, so, here we are then, the old team, well, the new – old team, back together, reunited in the face of danger, and all that… stuff. Now, all we have to do is contact Earth's allies, stop the 456, save the prisoners, stop the managers, and free the billions of children on the Earth below from, life threatening mind control." he grinned and winked at the team. "Just a regular Thursday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Earth's Secret Army (both parts 1, 2 and [possibly] 3)
> 
> When: Sunday
> 
> Other notes: I'm back. Sorry about being gone so long and sorry that this chapter is so, so long. Basically, I had to re-wirte this whole 'day' because I've edited the other parts so much the original didn't make sense anymore, and I kept having to go back to the chapters after I'd written them to edit the little (but important) details, so in the end I decided to write the whole thing first then post once I was finished. But that also means they'll be regular updates now, woo! This chapter was the trickiest for me and I've changed it like seven times, well done to those who guessed the hints though. Hope you like it :)


	23. Day Four - Chapter Three, Earth's Secret Army pI

_Kennington – London_

Jack and Mickey had been gone for a long while, almost a day, yet, still, they'd heard nothing, not a peep. Even Sophie and Clem were starting to wonder what exactly Torchwood were doing. "They're stuck, isn't it? Isn't it?" Clem would ask on repeat. Although, despite Gwen's initial push for them to sod what Jack told them and go and disarm the bomb, stop the 456, the team had stayed put; on Tosh's orders… initially.

They'd tried to use the teleport at Blake Peters' house, planning to go in all guns blazing. But, as Peters' had confessed, they were shut down after he didn't check in on time. So, they had no choice but to drive silently back to the gym, unsuccessful.

After their slump in progress, they decided it was best to focus on Thames House, something they could access. Tosh and Owen had been working on a way to disable the canisters safely; dissecting and reassembling the devices Blake Peters had built, finding any weakness they could. Gwen had been interrogating Blake Peters as soon as he'd woken up, getting every scrap of info she possible; were there any other devices? How could she contact the families of the people he'd stolen? What were the names of his associates? Ianto had been trying to find a way they could sneak into Thames House without Frobisher finding out; looking at schematics, trawling through CCTV to find the best time to sneak in through the back gate when someone went for a quick ciggy.

But in the last hour everything had been cracked up to eleven. News came through that Frobisher and Green had been arrested in connection to the incident with the children. UNIT had taken over negotiations, with the leader of the opposition taking over as acting Prime Minister.

The makeshift hub was so busy with everyone gearing up to go that it was only Rhys, who had been given Ianto's job of coffee boy, heard the phone, on the reception desk of the 'just about to open' gym they were hiding, in start to ring.

_Ring, Ring._

"Hold up," Rhys called to the others. "Hey. HEY! The phones ringing."

The others stopped and looked up.

_Ring, Ring._

"And." Owen commented flatly. "Bit busy trying save lives over here."

_Ring, Ring._

The others returned to what they were doing but Rhys persisted. "But hold up, this place's not even open yet, why would anyone be calling here?"

The team stopped again, their faces looking less sure, as they glanced nervously at each other.

_Ring Ring_

"He's right." Tosh said, urgently moving to get up from her seat and moving towards the phone from the upper balcony of the gym.

_Ring Ring_

"It's just a wrong number." Owen insisted, causing Tosh to stop. But there was something in his tone, sounding like he hadn't even convinced himself. He glanced once towards the phone, trying his best to ignore it and focus back on his work.

_Ring Ring_

"Think about it Owen, we don't have our phones so how would they try and reach us?" Gwen added.

_Ring Ring_

It took another second for the team to realise Gwen was right. The whole team looked towards the phone like it had turned to gold. "Rhys!" Gwen began but it was distorted by the cries from the rest of the team telling him the same thing – pick up the phone.

_Ring Ring_

Rhys lunged for it.

_Ring Ri-_

"Hello?" he asked.

" _So, they've got you answering the phones, eh? Well I guess we did need a receptionist_." Jack joked on the other line.

"Jack?" exclaimed Rhys, others rushing towards the reception desk.

"Put it on speaker." Owen demanded.

Rhys spoke into the headset. "Hold on." He took the phone away from his ear and looked puzzlingly at the numerous buttons on the side of the phone. He chose one.

It hung up the call.

"RHYS! BLOODY HELL MAN!" Gwen yelled furiously, while the others looked at Rhys in pure disbelief, as if he was the biggest idiot on planet Earth.

"I panicked alright." Rhys tried to defend himself, gesturing his free hand about. The rest of the team let out a moan of frustration.

"He can just call back, can't he?" Rhys explained, trying desperately to fix the damage he'd done.

The team looked at the phone, willing it to ring.

"Well, now what?" Owen said flatly, after a few seconds of silence.

But as soon as the words left his mouth, phone started ringing again. Rhys frantically went to pick it up, but was stopped in his tracks by the numerous murderous glares being cast in his direction. Gwen hit his hand away and gave him the biggest 'don't you dare' look she could manage.

She picked up the phone and quickly put the receiver to her ear. "Jack?" she asked desperately.

" _Tell your boyfriend he needs to go back to sectary collage_." he said flatly on the other line.

"Thank God!" she shoulders slumped, sending a ripple of relief through the rest of the team. "Jack where the hell are you?" she demanded.

"Put it on speaker." Owen complained. "And for fucks sake press the right button this time."

Gwen waved him into silence, while Ianto studied the buttons on the phone.

" _Taking a nice little tour of the 456's ship. But that can wait, is everyone still in base_?"

Ianto clicked the button on the phone and, luckily, it was the correct one this time.

"Yeah, we're all here." Ianto answered.

"Frobisher's been arrested." Tosh added.

" _Yeah, I know. Courtesy of an old friend of mine."_

"Jack…" Ianto began hesitantly. "Rose… is she?"

" _She's fine."_ Jack's voice became distant. The team could barely make out his next words. " _Ianto wants to know if you're okay."_ There were some clicking and bashing sounds on the other line. " _Yeah, Ianto I'm fine_." Rose said, her voice clear, if not a little tired sounding.

Ianto seemed a little hesitant to speak in earshot of the rest of the team, but his desire to put things right outweighed his embarrassment. "I'm sorry." he said sincerely.

There was a brief pause on the other line. " _Don't worry about it_." Rose said. There were some more bashing sounds and in the background the team could hear another man's voice in the distance; ' _Ianto, who's that, then?_ ' before Jack's voice came through clearly on the speaker once more. " _See she's fine and Mickey too."_ Jack reassured. There was a brief pause from Jack and in the distance they could hear Mickey say something along the lines of ' _Oh-ho, trust me you don't want to know,_ ' as though Jack had held the phone in the direction of the conversation that was happening, before he started speaking again. " _And since it's been awhile since you've heard from us, and all the teleports are down; I take it you're all about to try and sneak into Thames House against my orders."_ There were guilty glances amongst the team. Jack chuckled through the phone. " _The silence is very telling_." he joked before his voice returned to his usual 'order giving' manner. " _UNIT will let you in, but this is still a covert operation, got it? According to UNIT the 456 are watching the cameras, or are at least aware of them. That means no flash alien tech that'll catch the 456's attention, no full body breathing gear, nothing. You get in, you get out, no detours."_

"But if the 456 are watching the cameras, couldn't they be tracing this call too?" Tosh asked in alarm.

" _No,"_ the team could hear the smugness in Jack's voice. " _This is a, shall we say,_ _ **special**_ _line_."

"Yeah, about that – " Owen asked, curious how Jack could call from a spaceship millions of miles away from the nearest cell tower. Only for Ianto interrupt him, much to his annoyance.

"And what about you?" Ianto asked.

"And what about the prisoners?" Tosh asked desperately. "Is there any way you can help them?"

" _There's some sort of transmitter here; that's what's controlling the children. Blake Peters' cronies are here too. We take them out, take out the transmitter, the 456 have nothing. Once we do we can bring the prisoners back_."

"And how are you going to do that?" Owen asked flatly, folding his arms and leaning on the reception desk. "We've been up to Peters' house, and tried to restore the teleport but it's dead. Peters was meant to check in. And when he didn't -" Owen clicked his tongue. "His mates stranded themselves up there apparently, along with all the prisoners too."

" _Oh, don't worry, I know a guy_." Jack announced knowingly.

The others shot puzzled glares at each other, but none of them knew what he was on about. Gwen looked to Ianto for a clue but he merely shrugged and shook his head.

" _So…"_ Jack began after a bout of silence on his end. " _We clear?"_

"Stop a bunch of politicians being gassed with the most dangerous poison known to mankind and try not to die in the process… oh, and all while being watched by mind-controlling aliens, yeah piece of cake." Owen stated sarcastically as he rolled his eyes.

"Owen stop being such a moody git." Gwen complained, before moving her head close to the speaker. "We're clear, Jack."

Jack laughed. " _I knew you could handle it. You have two hours, max."_ he said proudly. " _Good luck."_

"You too, Sir." said Ianto quietly as Jack hung up the phone on his end.

There was a bout of silence amongst the team.

"Do you really think his going to come back?" Ianto asked Gwen, the underlying fear clear in his voice.

"Yes," she said with certainty. "He has to."

Ianto was about to say something else when an alarm echoed through the makeshift hub.

"What's happening?" Sophie; Clem's sister, asked from the upper platform, dragging Clem along with her, who was seeming to have a rough time all of a sudden.

Tosh rushed around to the computer on the reception desk, next to the phone. "Incoming update. UNIT's about to go into the chamber."

"We access the camera's now?" Gwen asked in surprise.

"Yes." said Tosh, studying the screen. "Now that UNIT have taken over, they've switched the CCTV back on."

"Well that's brilliant." exclaimed Gwen, happily. "It means we can get a good look at these things."

"Can I see?" asked Clem, suddenly appearing behind them without a sound, causing the whole team to snap their attention to him. His eyes were still like a child but his tone was serious. "I want to know what took my friends."

The team looked at Tosh, who considered it for a moment before nodding and moving aside so Clem could see the computer screen.

* * *

_COBRA Cabinet Room – Westminster_

Around an antique, oak, desk sat the most important members in the UK government, as well as ambassadors from around the world, all dressed in smart, tailored suits and flow-y, conservative blouses. Crystal glasses costing as much as a minimum wage worker's entire monthly salary by each person, a matching crystal engraved bottled filled with the finest mineral water money could buy.

Colonel Mace had been to such briefings before, but it was unusual to see another military uniform in the sea of suits. Austin Pierce, the US's upcoming general; a tall well-built man, even with his army training, sent on the quickest direct flight as soon as the President found out about the UK's previous dealings with the 456.

"So basically the UK and UNIT's strategy is to give the 456 whatever they want." Pierce complained, having been in a foul mood since he arrived. His face scowling as he leaned over the table, his fingers linked together.

"That's simply not true." the leader of the opposition argued, a grey haired, balding man, with a grandparent like face and warm voice. "We haven't agreed to any of their terms as of yet, we are merely trying to learn as much as we can about them." he glanced at Mace, who nodded. "As per UNIT's recommendation."

"What you call learn, I call sitting on your ass." Austin Pierce snapped at the opposition leader, before turning his attention to Mace. "If your intel is true Mace, and they have a kill switch for all of our kids, all of America's children; their dirty tentacles or whatever the hell they have hovering over a button, and you're choosing not to send the nukes up there, hell you're not even readying your men. Then I suggest you look up the word compliance in the dictionary."

"With all due respect, UNIT is the most experienced with these sorts of situations, we have the most experts, and it is at their recommendation we are proceeding as we are. The ship is too far away for any sort of weaponry to reach it, a whole galaxy in fact. So I think it's best we know what our enemy has in their arsenal, before declaring war on them."

General Austin leaned back on his chair, obviously disgruntled with Mace's answer but he had nothing to retort back. There was a click as the door on the far side of the room opened. Everyone at the table stopped to look up.

It was Colonel Oduya. He nodded at the crowd before standing to attention. "The crew is ready, live feeds should be coming through."

General Pierce moved to grab the remote and pointed it to a flat screen TV mounted on the wall above the table.

"Right, at least we can see what these things actually look like." he spat as he punched the 'on' button of the remote.

* * *

_Thames House - London_

Harriet Jones held her breath as the camera crew made their final preparations to go into the glass chamber.

She'd asked the 456 what they wanted to use the children for, and they had invited the camera inside. But sod letting the poor interns in that smog. UNIT officers had arrived in the time she'd been negotiating, and they were far more trained to deal with such situations. Luckily, the 456 had not been particular about who the human race sent in with the camera.

Like every other thought of hers since she had begun negotiating, she thought about the Doctor and Martha, and if they had made progress in stopping the 456 waiting on the ship. She looked on as the camera woman was being fitted with a plastic looking, black, breathing suit, the face panel a sheet of clear plastic, about the size of a laptop screen, tubing running from the oxygen tank on the back, the UNIT logo plastered on each bit of equipment.

Harriet walked up to the officer as they were adjusting their suit. The officer was young, no older than her late twenties, yet she seemed so calm and collected.

"How are you feeling?" Harriet asked.

"Scared, Ma'am." she said straight away. "But, I've had the training. I'm ready."

Harriet smiled. "What's your name corporal?"

"Banes, Ma'am. Amy Banes."

"Well, Amy Banes, good luck, any sign of aggression you get out of there, is that absolutely clear."

Banes nodded once. "Ma'am."

Harriet stepped back as watched as Banes grabbed a bulky handheld camera, which looked more like it was used to capture deep-sea footage than something on ground level, but it was necessary to prevent the gasses corroding the circuitry.

Banes stepped inside a smaller chamber attached to the main glass one; where the 456 were waiting, the door being sealed shut behind her. There was a high pitched tonal sound followed by a louder air-sucking noise, similar to the sound of the devices dentists use to drain the fluid from someone's mouth, cloudy toxic air slowly filling the smaller room.

Harriet paced over to a different UNIT officer, who was seated at a desk with multiple monitors; one showing the output from the camera, another showing the vital signs of Banes, and another monitor showing the feed from the interns' camera, which was pointing at the outside of the main chamber.

There was another tone sound and a light above Banes head turned green. She took a deep breath and stepped into the larger glass chamber; the thick smog making it impossible to make out anything further than a foot away. Through the microphone Harriet could hear Banes breathing become more and more pronounced as her heart-rate increased on the monitor.

Soon, large bulbous heads, on long, grey, giraffe like, necks entered the frame. From the earpiece Harriet was wearing she could hear a few officials gasp from the Cobra meeting, but she remained calm and tried to make sense of the image, squinting her eye to aid her further. There were insect like pincers on each of the heads which dripped the thick yellow gunk that had been spraying on the inside of the chamber.

"I'm getting three distinct forms of life." said the UNIT officer overseeing the monitors.

"Perhaps there have been two of the 456 in there this whole time? The chamber is hardly visible."

"That's a possibility, Mam." the officer replied, before speaking into their headset. "Banes, there might be another one in there, see if you can get a visual, over."

There were a few more fearful ragged breaths from Banes before she replied, trying to calm herself. "Proceeding, over." Banes voice cracked through the computer speakers.

On the screen Harriet and the other UNIT officer watched as another figure came into focus, under the main body of the first creature. They both instinctively leaned closer to try and make out the image as Banes moved shakily closer the image of the third form of life, the image becoming clearer and clearer until...

The whole room gasped, like the air had suddenly been sucked clean out.

Strapped down to a grimy metal gurney, was a bald, sickly, looking child, an oxygen mask covering their face, burrowing into their skin. Their clothes were rags and their skin looked grey and slimy.

They blinked at the camera their eyes filling with tears.

"My God." said Harriet, instantly moving back but unable to take her eyes off the poor soul in front of her. In her ear piece she could hear the members of the Cobra meeting's shocked gasps. She knew most of them, many parents themselves, she dreaded to think how they would be taking this.

"I..I..I think they're one of the children from 1965." Banes voice came shakily through on the speaker, finding her words despite how obviously terrified she was; the camera jaggedly moving up and down the body of the child as Banes hands shook from the sheer fear.

Harriet snapped out of it. She had to handle this correctly otherwise it would put Banes and Earth's children at risk. "Yes I think you're right. See if you can get a response from them, if you can."

There were a few more ragged breaths as Banes tried to calm herself, her heart rate way above normal. "Yes, Mam. I can." she said bravely, as she took a few more steps towards the child. "Hello, hello, can you hear me?"

The child blinked a few times but their eyes didn't shift towards Banes at all.

"Hello, listen it's okay. I won't hurt you." Banes gingerly reached her arm out to the child but the 456 jerked and his head spewed the thick yellow gunk across the chamber, coating Banes in the process.

Banes screamed.

"Get her out of there!" demanded Harriet.

"Banes retreat, retreat Banes." the UNIT officer by the desk called into his head set.

Banes didn't move for a few moments, shocked by the sudden weight of the ooze on the suit, before stumbling back, hasty retreating out of the room in a panicked frenzy. As soon as the suit was hosed down by other UNIT officers, she hastily threw the plastic suit off as far she could and rubbed her arms to comfort herself, gulping big breaths while she was led to a chair by her colleagues.

Harriet was unable to halt the cold fury she had been keeping down, having taken all her will to keep it under control. She marched up to the chamber, the glass only a few feet away from her.

"This is unacceptable." she spat. "The UN absolutely condones this treatment of it's citizens, of mere children nonetheless, innocents that have done nothing to wrong you, now I demand you tell me is this what you plan for all our children, and what about the others you have, have they been condemned to the same fate as this poor soul or is it even worse?"

There was a brief silence before another wave of putrid slime splattered across the glass.

The deep eerie male voice of the 456's translator boomed through the speakers. "We do not harm the children, they feel no pain."

"That's far beside the point." Harriet scolded.

There was another pause. "They are kept in a state of low brain activity, they are asleep. We do not harm them, they far outlive their years."

Harriet forced herself to calm down, remembering what the Doctor had told her. The 456 weren't in control here, they were; they had the Doctor on the ship, shutting it down. She needed to buy time, that was all. The 456 would _not_ get what they want, not by any means.

"And for what purpose do you wish to take these children for, what exactly do they provide you with?" Harriet demanded coldly.

The speaker cackled, followed by another elongated pause. "The hit."

"I do beg your pardon." Harriet said quickly, unable to believe quite what she was hearing.

Another pause followed.

"The hit. They create chemicals. The chemicals are good."

The room suddenly felt as though it had gotten several degrees colder, and Harriet was pretty sure she wasn't the only one, as she stood there stunned, staring into the foggy chamber. They wanted the Earth's children for …drugs, for a high? She felt sick, her mouth drawn in a thin line as she tried to push down the utter disgust she felt for these creatures.

The Doctor was coming, she told herself over and over. He was here to protect the Earth.

"And what if we refuse." she said, regaining her composure, keeping her head held high.

There was no pause this time. "We will wipe out your entire species." the voice bellowed.

* * *

_Westminster – London_

Colonel Oduya watched on in horror as the answers came though on the monitor, the people around the table were speechless, tears sitting in their eyes, about to fall. This is what they wanted the children for? He thought of his own children, in the place of that one on the gurney, how scared they must've felt when all of that was happening to them.

His phone began to ring, and the whole room looked at him.

Although, it wasn't his phone.

"Dear God, show some professionalism." spat General Pierce.

Oduya raised an eyebrow in the General's direction. "This isn't a personal call." he said, glancing at Mace, who's eyes widened in understanding and hastily got up and followed Oduya out of the room.

Oduya waited until Mace was by his side to answer the call. He flipped the phone open. "Sir."

"Oduya, my man!" the Doctor was in a happy mood. "Just to let you know we've got a plan and should be able to sort the whole thing in …" the Doctor paused, and Oduya could picture him looking at his watch, if he wore one. "…oh, about two hours give or take."

Oduya looked at Mace. "Two hours, Sir," Mace smirked in relief, picturing Austin's face. "That's an excellent development."

"Oh, and maybe I should mention might have a few returnees being dropped off after." the Doctor's voice turned darker. "The 456 have taken human slaves, using the help of a man called Blake Peters, they'll need support Colonel."

"Sir." Oduya replied instantly. "We'll do everything we can."

The Doctor's happy tone returned, but this time Oduya could hear a level of proudness in it. "Good man. Just tell Harriet to keep them talking."

"Yes Sir, about that."

"What?" there was a hint of fear in the Doctor's voice.

"We know what they want the children for."

* * *

_Tron-nii-Ka system – Section; One – delta - seven_

Rose watched as the Doctor suddenly sat up on the velvet sofa in Don's room, the phone pressed against his ear. She saw his face fell and his eyes became lost and stormy, like he was somewhere else, his hand holding the phone dropping slowly to his lap.

"Doctor?" Rose asked softly, grabbing onto his arm, causing Jack, Mickey and Martha to look towards them from elsewhere in the room.

He snapped out of it instantly, his 'faraway' look replaced with a concerned expression directed at her.

"What?" he asked quietly.

"You okay?" Rose asked. "What did he say?"

"Oh, yes, right." he put the phone back to his ear. "Thank you Colonel." he said solemnly. "I'll take care of it." The Doctor flipped the phone shut.

"Doctor." Rose tried again.

"I know what they want the children for." he said darkly, his eyes becoming stormy again.

Jack saw the look on the Doctor's face and knew straight away that it wasn't good. He walked up to the sofa where the Doctor and Rose were sitting. "And?" he asked nervously, Mickey and Martha joining him soon after.

The Doctor fixed his gaze on Jack for several seconds, debating with himself whether he should spare Jack the burden with a lie or not.

"Please, Doctor. I need to know." Jack pleaded.

The Doctor looked around to the other faces in the room, all wearing a similar expression to Jack's; they wanted to know. He saved Rose for last, the deciding factor. She was looking at him expectantly.

"Doctor, what is it? What do they want the kids for?" she asked.

"They're using them for neurological stimulation, a hit, their using the children for recreational drugs."

Everyone's faced dropped. They all sat in stunned silence for a few good moments, reeling from the utter horridness of the fate of the children. Jack took a few steps back, this was his fault.

"What? So, they're drug dealers, hooked up on kids?!" Martha yelled in disbelief.

"Yes." the Doctor nodded, the others still processing the whole thing, especially Jack, who looked as still as a statue, the colour from his face completely drained.

"And, that's why I couldn't work out what they were before, that yellow gunk that they projectile eject." The Doctor began to explain, not wanting the others to dwell on it for too long. Rose and Mickey scrunched up their faces in a mixture of disgust and confusion, so he elaborated. "There's a member of the 456 in Thames House, theoretically, you can use the compound formula of the gas they need to breathe work out what species they are, or at least narrow down the choices. But that gunk, there was no species that breathed that particular mixture of gasses _AND_ that had that sort of reaction, at least any that I know of. But that gunge, it's a side-effect of –" the Doctor continued, saying the next word with utter disgust. " _using_."

"So you know what they are?" Martha asked hurriedly, still fuming from the whole reveal.

"Yes." the Doctor said, looking up at her from his position on the sofa. "There Portán-Trí-Cheann, they come from the same subspecies as the Macra, from same system. They're usually peaceful, but my guess this lot are a bunch of rotten apples from the barrel, looking to flood their planet and it's colonies with a new drug."

"That's sick, I mean, it's just sick. Turn kids into that." Martha rushed out furiously. "And for what?" she waved a hand about in a frenzy. "Money, fame. Or whatever the hell drug dealers want."

"What about the kids?" Mickey asked. "Can we save them or…?"

The Doctor looked at him. "No." he said sharply.

Rose glanced towards Jack as she saw him tense out of the corner of her eye as the Doctor continued.

"The 456 – or, 'Portán-Trí-Cheann' as they're otherwise known – have suspended their aging using a life-support system, but they've been wired in there too long now, far, _far_ , too long, disconnect them and their bodies won't be able to cope with the change."

"Their bodies gotten too used to it." Martha said sadly, her anger gone. "Like in cases of ventilator dependence."

The Doctor nodded.

Rose moved to get up from the sofa, unable to watch Jack stare into the abyss in the background any longer, despite how much her aching body begged her to stay put.

The Doctor snapped his attention to her as soon as he realised she was moving.

"Jack?" she called out, trying to heave herself off the sofa, only to be helped most of the way by the Doctor.

Jack still didn't move, like he hadn't heard her at all.

"Jack." the Doctor called in a low tone.

Jack slowly turned to face them, looking completely distraught.

"Jack, it's not your fault." Rose said sadly, moving closer to him.

Jack ignored her and instead turned to face the Doctor, looking directly at him. "Do they know what's happening to them…or?" he asked frantically, tears forming around the edges of his eyes.

Rose and the others looked to him as well.

"No." the Doctor answered truthfully. "The 456 told UNIT that they lower their brain activity, and from what they've told me about the child in the chamber, they're telling the truth. There not aware in there."

Jack let out a ragged breath.

"But, I was the one that did this to them."

"What!" exclaimed Martha angrily.

"No!" Rose protested instantly. "It wasn't your fault, if you didn't give them what they wanted they were goin' to unleash that virus, there was nothing you could do."

Jack whirled to face Rose, he looked angry, causing the Doctor to tense up in response.

Jack was frustrated that Rose didn't understand what he understood, had figured out what he had. "Rose, you don't understand." he pleaded, almost yelling.

Rose looked at him questioningly. "What do you-"

"Look at what we know now!" Jack shouted, it attention focused fully on Rose, causing her to flitch.

Meanwhile the Doctor moved to intervene. But Mickey grabbed him by the arm and shook his head subtly at the Doctor. "Just let them, yeah?" he said, quietly enough so that only the Doctor and Martha could hear him. The Doctor studied Mickey for a moment, considering, before he relaxed and backed off, turning his attention back on Rose and Jack, who were so engrossed in their own conversation they'd failed to notice.

"The way they reached out to Blake Peters, their reliance on us. They must've used humans before, helped them find the cure, hell, they could've helped them create the virus in the first place." Jack explained angrily. He sighed; annoyed by the confused looks Rose was still giving him. She still didn't get it. He forced himself to calm down, and speak more calmly. He wanted her to understand why this was his fault, that she _should_ be angry at him. "They must've been on Earth before, for months, just like they've been on Earth for months this time around, it means we could've stopped them, if we knew the signs, if we investigated further back then, we could've picked up on it. Found the humans they reached out to, found the cure and the virus." Jack stepped closer to Rose, his eyes begging her to understand. "Don't you see Rosie? If we found who they were working with back then, we would never've had to do the deal in the first place."

Rose's eye's darted back and forth processing it for a few moments. "But… but that's not fair!" she blurted out angrily. "Yeah, you didn't know, but back then you didn't have satellites or computers." she waved an arm around angrily as she forced her brain to think quicker. "or.. anything like that. We only found out now cos of CCTV camera's and Tosh and… whatever else we have now that wasn't around back then."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows, considering the whole thing. "And you did well to find that out." he admitted, causing Jack to look at him. " _I_ didn't even know about Blake Peters, or the poison for that matter, and I'm, well, you know, _me_." he shrugged.

Jack considered this and after a few moments something seemed to relax in him, the Doctor's words appearing to put him at ease. "So… what now?" he asked, looking a little embarrassed, which was an unusual look for Jack, his voice now much more level and calm.

"Now." the Doctor began energetically. "We follow the plan. Harriet Jones, and Torchwood, dealing with the 456 on Earth, while we deal with the 456 here; stopping them from the inside."

"Like a spy film." commented Mickey. "All covert operations and infiltration. Sneaking into the base and destroying it from the inside."

"Like Earth's MI6 or something." Martha joked.

"Earth's secret army." added Jack dramatically. "Protecting the planet without anyone ever knowing."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Earth's Secret Army pII
> 
> When: Sometime late tonight (GMT) 
> 
> Other notes: Yeah, part III is still a work in progress so it'll be a few days yet, I want to get it just right.


	24. Day Four, Chapter Four - Earth's Secret Army pII

_Tron-nii-Ka system – Section; One – delta - seven_

Martha held her breath as she carried a plastic crate behind Mickey as they walked down the corridor, which looked like someone's hallway. Both of their masks were on, so, hopefully – oh, please let it be the case - that would be enough for Mickey to blend in with the other managers. She didn't have one of those bracelets, so if the managers checked her info on their handheld devices; they'd find nothing. She swallowed down her fear and fixed her eyes straight ahead as another manager passed the both of them, trying to force herself not to make her movements too jagged.

They were almost to the server room, almost.

They could do it.

They _needed_ to do it, otherwise the Doctor, Rose or Jack wouldn't be able to do their part.

She could do this, piece of cake.

"Oi, Oi." the manager that passed her earlier called out. She flinched. Oh God. They'd already failed.

Mickey tensed, stopped and turned around, looking in the other manager's direction for a little bit before turning back. "He's talking to someone else." he said quietly.

Martha suddenly remembered how to breathe, her heart jumping out of her chest.

They turned the corner, the scenery instantly reminding Martha that they were, in fact, on a spaceship. The wooden lino replaced with corrugated metal and plastic wall panelling. The server room should be up ahead, if the map Jack got from that other manager in the shower was accurate. Martha prayed it was as she scanned the corridor for the door.

After just a few moments, thankfully, they came to a futuristic looking, frosted glass, door with a vertical pink stripe down it.

"This should be it." said Mickey as he studied the electronic panel next to the door frame. He pressed a random button and the door whooshed open. He turned to face her and motioned her to step in. "Ladies first."

Martha smiled under her mask. "Thanks." she said as she stepped through the door, Mickey walking through after her.

The room was about the size of her flat's living room, and, like the rest of the ship, it seemed to be one half star trek, the other half lawyer's office. There were melted holes in the metal walls with wires thread through them, dodgy UK plug sockets that looked like they could spark and start a fire any minute. On the wall opposite the door, directly in front of her, was a very high tech looking machine, looking like it belonged in NASA, with a single bulky, big-backed, computer monitor, keyboard and mouse on a wooden desk in front of it; wires leading from the computer to the NASA machine, a leather gaming chair close by.

"This is it." stated Mickey, rushing up to the computer while taking off his mask at the same time, wasting no time as he started typing away.

Martha put down the plastic box by her feet and searched by the door frame for a way to close the door. She found a panel and pressed a button, hoping for the best, the door slid shut.

Mickey was intently staring at the computer. Martha studied him for a bit as she approached him, taking off her own mask in the process, it was just so stuffy in there and the air was clear in the room. Just who was he? She wondered. He was good with computers and could sneak into a spaceship. Where'd he learn all that stuff?

"Any luck?" she asked hopefully.

"Yeah." he said, still studying at the screen, fingers whirling over the keys. "Might take a while though." he explained, glancing at the gaming chair and hooking it with his foot and bringing it closer to himself, managing to sit down on the chair without stopping what he was doing.

"I'll keep watch." Martha said, walking closer to the door so she'd be able to see the fuzzy shapes of any managers coming near through the frosted glass.

"So," she began awkwardly, after a few minutes had passed. "How do you know the Doctor, then?"

Mickey stopped typing for a second, seeming a bit hesitant. "Well, the short answer is me and Rose used to date, but we're-"

Martha spluttered. " _You? -You_ used to date Rose Tyler?!" she said, absolutely floored by the information.

Mickey turned to glare at her. "Well try not to sound _too_ surprised." he huffed, rolling his eyes and returning to typing.

Martha felt her cheeks burn after the horrid realisation that she had actually said that out loud. "Sorry." she spewed out. "I didn't mean it like that."

There was a long pause. Martha glanced at the door, semi-wishing the 456 would come along and end her suffering.

Mickey let out a sigh, but didn't turn to face her, still trying to hack into the handheld devices all the managers carried with them; so he could order them to round up the prisoners and take them to their rooms. "Let me guess." he said calmly. Martha turned round, surprised by his change of tone. "The Doctor's been like; 'Oh Martha I do wish you would hurry up sometimes, Rose would've finished this by now. Oh, Rose she always knows what to do. I wish Rose was here then we'd be back in the Tardis by now. Rose, Rose, Rose.'" Mickey mocked in a near-perfect Doctor impression.

Martha burst out laughing. "That's so accurate it's scary." she said in genuine amazement. "How did you know?"

Mickey smirked. "Switch Rose with the Doctor and that's what I've been hearing on repeat for the last three years."

Martha's eyes widened. "Three years! Blimey I don't think I could put up with it for that long."

"Yeah, most people wouldn't but I'm resilient." Mickey teased.

"Yeah, I bet." Martha replied with a sly smile.

"So… what about you? How do you know the Doctor, then?" Mickey asked, briefly glancing over his shoulder to look at her before retuning to his work.

Martha looked through the frosted glass of the door before she continued, now the last thing she wanted was for a manager to appear. "I used to … well I guess technically I still do, work at the Royal Hope Hospital."

"What that place that went to the moon?" Mickey asked, surprised.

"That's the one." Martha smiled. "The Doctor was one of my patients, well one of Dr Stokers patients, I'm still training."

"The Doctor was in hospital?" Mickey asked in surprise, jerking his head round to look at her.

"Yeah, he was only there because of the plasma coils though."

"Ah." Mickey realised, shifting his focus back to the computer. "Makes sense." He thought, momentarily pausing. "Sort of."

Martha smiled. "So, why'd you leave? …If, you don't mind me asking."

Mickey hesitated, like she'd hit a nerve.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." she added quickly.

"No, no. It's okay." He took a moment to think about what he was going to say. "If I'm honest… I knew it wasn't going to be permanent when I signed up, but I wanted to see it out there, prove to myself; I could handle it, then, the plan was go back and live my life. But in the end I found somewhere I wanted to stay, I mean, more than where I used to live." He paused a little. "Why? Are you thinking of leaving?" he asked.

"No!" she said instantly, her eyes popping, before her shoulders slumped and she let out a defeated sigh. "Maybe… I don't know yet. I mean now that Rose is back…" Martha quickly realised what she said and her voice turned defensive. "I mean nothing against her, really, she seem nice." There was a shift in her tone again, more sad this time. "It's just I don't know if I _should_ stay, or if the Doctor even _wants_ me to stay anymore."

"Yeah." Mickey said sadly, understanding exactly what she was going through. "Look, don't tell him I said this. But the Doctor leaves people behind, that's just what he does. Now I'm not saying go, but, I just think you should know either way you won't be staying forever, I mean I wouldn't change anything, and it was great but, in the end you're going to need people to look after you when you're old, people to have your back and it aint going to be the Doctor. And now that Rose is back, you won't exactly be his first priority, like you said, it's not Rose's fault. I mean, it aint really the Doctor's fault either, I'd be the same. But just a heads up, if it's you or Rose, he's always goin' to pick her."

Martha didn't say anything for a while, processing what Mickey just said. It was true. Really, she'd already seen it when they'd been grabbed. Rose was the Doctor's priority. And she didn't blame the Doctor for that, he'd made it very clear how important Rose was to him from the get go. But where did that leave her? If she really got down to it, it meant her life was in more danger now that Rose was back. And with the amount of danger Martha often found herself in with him, that was a big thing to take into consideration.

"Sorry." Mickey said, snapping Martha out of her thought. "I didn't say it to be harsh. It's just the thing I wish people said to me before I went…"

"No, no." she waved him off. "You're right." she admitted, although now she was wondering about something else that he'd just said. "Does he really leave everyone behind though? Like stray dogs or something? Even Rose?"

Mickey paused. "Yeah." he said sadly, typing a few more things on the computer, before stopping, like he was actually going to say something else but decided against it. "I've sent the message to the managers. We can watch the trackers to make sure they send all the prisoners to their rooms."

Martha walked over and leaned in to see the screen, not missing - but pretending she did - quick glance over Mickey gave her as she did so, sure enough there was an image of the map she and the others had used earlier and on it were hundreds of yellow dots scattered about in groups around the ship. After a few minutes some of the yellow dots started moving towards an area on the south side of the ship. "Oh, well done." she said happily. "You're pretty good with computers then?"

Mickey beamed. "Yeah, that's me, man in a van, the technical support." he joked as he watched the screen with Martha. "So…er, if you do leave, what will you do? Like, will you finish your training or…?"

Martha racked her brain, she really hadn't thought that far ahead yet. "Yeah… well, I guess, what else is there?" She thought a little longer, standing away from the screen. "But, I mean, you've seen it you there it's amazing, it's brilliant. To go back to a normal life after all that, it'll be a tough adjustment."

"You could always come work for Torchwood." Mickey suggested.

"What in Cardiff?" Martha replied, sounding slightly disgusted at the thought.

"Hey, it's not that bad. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's no London but the rent's pretty cheap and the pay is very, _very_ , nice."

"And what exactly does Torchwood do?" asked Martha, considering. "The Doctor never really said."

"See there's this rift in Cardiff, means a lot of things fall through from all over time and space. We stop them if they're dangerous. Keep it if it's tech, to preserve history and all that. And if they need help or whatever we do that too, but honestly that doesn't happen too often."

"Must be a tough selection process though?"

"Nah, Captain Cheesy is in charge and since he's leaving I'm sure you'd get the job. Travelling with the Doctor means you've already got plenty of experience."

"Is that right?" Martha asked, considering. Well, it could be nice.

"Yeah and… y' know if you do want to stay, on Earth, I mean, then maybe, you and me could go out later. I mean, like, if you want, and if you don't want to it's like no big deal." Mickey asked quickly with a sniff and shrug of his shoulders, trying to play it off.

Martha was a bit stunned. "You're asking me out?"

"Well, if that's okay?" he asked, suddenly sounding a bit awkward.

Martha grinned. "I'll think about it." she said playfully, causing Mickey to smirk.

"Well, let's hope this plan works then." Mickey said, looking at the screen. He watched as more groups of yellow dots started moving towards the dorms.

Martha beamed. Now all they had to do was wait until the prisoners were in their dorms and she could seal the managers in the dance hall. Easy... right?

* * *

_Thames House – London_

The Torchwood team waltzed into Thames House, scanning the main entrance area as covertly as they could; the tall marble columns and polished floors reflecting the abstract shapes of the UNIT officers and office workers scurrying around, ignoring the team completely.

The team marched up to the reception desk, moving in a group, trying to glance at the possible CCTV cameras. They were dressed the part, jumpsuits and toolboxes; hiding bomb disarming equipment. They needed to be, for all they knew the 456 were monitoring the cameras.

"Hi, were from Noble Earth Construction. You've scheduled an inspection with us." Tosh explained to the woman at the front desk with a smile, while the others continued to take in their surroundings. There were a lot of UNIT officers about, understandable given the alien on the top floor. But there were also regular cleaners emptying the bins, a mechanic working on an out of order lift. This was good, it meant they wouldn't stand out.

The receptionist gave them a poignant look, looking over her glasses. "Yes, let me let the building manager know." she said knowingly, typing away on her computer as if to check the appointment, even though they both knew there was no such thing.

A man in a tie and shirt came to greet them, from the way he carried himself and his in-shape figure; it was clear he was a UNIT officer in disguise. "This way please." he said gesturing his hand towards a wide corridor.

The officer led them through long, narrow corridors and small staff rooms. It was more like a tour of the building than being chauffeured from one place to another; this of course, was planned. It allowed for the team to scope out the place, more thoroughly than the CCTV and blueprints of the building had allowed them to earlier. Jack wasn't kidding when he said UNIT would give them access. Each step of the way some of the team would glance at the vent in the wall, knowing that that's where one of the canisters, filled with the most deadly poison ever created, was waiting to be unleashed. If the regular office workers and other UNIT officers did know about the danger they were in, they were very good at hiding it as they went about their day.

The officer in the shirt and tie brought them to a final room. "The main maintenance room is through here." he said unlocking the door.

The team stepped inside the tiny, box room filled with various 'handyman' pieces of equipment that they needed, ladders, screwdrivers, alan-keys for the vent screws and, most importantly, no CCTV cameras.

"Is there anything else you need?" the officer asked, leaning on the desk tucked into the corner, his keys conveniently falling out of his trouser pocket, granting the team further access to the restricted rooms.

"No, we have everything we need." Tosh smiled politely, quickly scanning the room. "Thank you."

"No, _thank you_." said the officer sternly, making clear his double meaning. "Good luck." he said, before getting up and leaving the room.

The team watched in silence as the officer left and closed the door behind them, cutting off the hallway CCTV's line of sight. They sprang into action, grabbing ladders, and readying the specialised equipment they brought with them.

"Right," commanded Tosh, unhooking the keys from the key chain and scattering the keys on the table. Only to notice that all the keys were tagged, informing the team which doors they unlocked. She gazed wide eyed at the rest of the team, who in response picked up and examined the keys for themselves.

UNIT had just saved them a lot of time.

"We all know what we've got to do." Tosh said quickly, recovering from the initial shock of the helpful gesture. The team nodded, picking up the specific keys that gave them access to where they needed to go. "Let's move."

The team instantly split up, each taking a different direction, all of them trying to remain as casual as possible but the sense of urgency making it difficult to hide their determination as they powered down the corridor.

Ianto's first canister to disarm was the closest. It was located in one of the vents in a cluttered storage room; Classified archives 1960 - 1980. He walked into the room as calmly as he could, pushing the swinging door open, a clerk greeting him behind a wire guard, similar to that in prison shops. The guard was reading a book and glanced at Ianto when he entered. Ianto smiled politely at him, and gave a little nod as he wrestled to get the ladder he was carrying through the door – a difficult job to do while also carrying a tool box.

The clerk just continued to glare at him over his book. Ianto placed the ladder against the wall and turned to unlock the secure door to the side of the small room. The clerk raised an eyebrow but said nothing as he settled back into his book while Ianto collected the ladder and manoeuvred it through the other door.

The main part of the storage room looked more like an old disused university library, the tall shelves caked in a layer of dust, row after row. If he wasn't in such a rush he'd come back to give it a good clean himself but for now the clock was ticking and he had a job to do.

According to Tosh his first canister to disarm was located in a ceiling panel; the kind of common office, square, white one that was textured in a way that looked like foam packaging, twentieth one to the left, seventeenth one down. He scanned the ceiling, mumbling numbers as he located the correct panel. "fourteen, fifteen, sixteen… got it."

The white tiled panel was one tile away from a small plastic vent feeding the room.

Ianto sighed as he cast his eyes to ground level and realised the panel was in a rather precarious position. It was directly above the top of the shelving, meaning he'd have to climb onto the shelf in order to access the panel.

He couldn't bother about that now, he told himself. Jack had given them two hours at least and most of that time had passed. They needed to disable the canisters before the 456 realised something was wrong, otherwise they'd activate the gas.

He swiftly scanned the ceiling. There was a camera and it was pointing directly at him. Ianto braced himself and positioned the ladder as close to the shelf as possible. He was just a regular maintenance worker he told himself as he climbed up the ladder. But about half way up he soon realised something else;

the ladder was too short.

He cursed under his breath. Why did today have to be one of those days?

He continued up to the top of the ladder and speedily planned out the route to the shelf, not an easy task while holding a tool box. Ianto was a bit wobbly and a few thick files felt to the floor with a thud, creating a dust cloud close to the floor. Yet, he dare not risk a glance to the CCTV and persisted onwards, dragging himself to the top, begging that the wood was strong enough to hold his weight as it creaked with even the slightest change in pressure.

He stood on the top of the shelf, placing the toolbox by his feet and he shakily reached upwards and carefully pushed the white tiled panel out of it's place with the palm of his hands.

He sneezed instantly as he peered into the hole, the disturbance of the panel kicking up a layer of dust. And he thought the shelves were bad, they had nothing on this place. The gap between the original ornate ceiling and the polystyrene like square panels they had replaced it with, was dark, filled with wiring and thick, foil, ventilation tubing.

Directly over the panel Tosh had directed him to he could see the dust had been disturbed and newish crisp packets left by the wayside. He pushed the panel he was holding to one side and reached back down to the tool box by his feet, lifting it into the hole. He rummaged around for a torch and a pen knife, and shone the torch into the gap.

It was a bit awkward to reach but with a stretch Ianto managed to cut open the foil tubing with the pen knife, revealing the device inside; a cylindrical silver canister, similar in size to an oxygen tank or a small fire extinguisher, a series of wires running from it and into a circuit board at the base. He wiggled his way closer, the other panels supporting his weight creaking as he moved.

He could do this, he told himself.

The room suddenly felt a lot hotter. He could feel the beads of sweat forming on his forehead. He pulled out a screwdriver from the tool box and steadied his breathing, just as Tosh told him. "Loosen the receiver, battery, yellow wire, red wire, done." he muttered over and over to himself.

If he set it off, that was it, he was a dead man.

He started to loosen the screws, his hands quivering as he did so. "Loosen the receiver, battery, yellow wire, red wire, done." he continued to repeat as he move onto the next screw, his breathing sounding like huge gusts of wind as his nerves frayed.

"Battery, yellow wire, red wire, done." he started to repeat to himself as he, oh so carefully, detached the circuit board. He flipped over the circuit board to reveal a large battery, he poised the screwdriver to use as a wedge to pop out the battery before stopping himself. And quickly turning back to search in the toolbox for some small wire cutters and placing them just in front of him.

He wouldn't have a lot of time once he popped the battery.

He took a final deep breath and cut the wire. And alarm on the device gave off a high pitched wail. "Red wire, yellow wire, done." Ianto muttered to himself.

He hastily moved to cut the red wire, opening the wire cutter and moving it between the blades.

He stopped himself.

"Yellow wire, red wire, done." he corrected himself, switching to the yellow wire. There was a moment of hesitation, his mind a mess with the pressure. Was it the red wire first, or the yellow wire?

His hands started to shake, the wailing was getting more and more consistent.

He cut the yellow wire.

The wailing sped up.

He cut the red wire and clenched his eyes shut, bracing for the worst.

1 elephant, 2 elephant, 3 elephant.

Nothing happened.

He opened his eyes and look at the circuit board, it was dead, he'd done it, the device was inactive.

He let out a shuddering breath and dropped his head into his arms.

He couldn't stop though, he had more work to do.

He shuffled backwards, out through the hole he entered through, his pristine jumpsuit caked in dust. When his feet took his whole weight he nearly fell off the top of the bookshelf, his knees were so weak.

That had been too close.

He fumbled down the ladder and out of the room in a similar fashion to how a new born calf takes it's first steps, trying desperately to regain his composure before he exited the room and greeted the clerk; on to the next canister.

He wondered how the hell Jack could handle being up on a spaceship and still remain so calm and confident.

* * *

_Tron-nii-Ka system – Section; One – delta - seven_

Jack flipped his phone shut as he turned to face the Doctor and Rose, who were waiting close by for an update. "The managers have rounded all the prisoners into the dorms. I'll make my way to the vents now, so I don't get rounded up with the others." Jack explained. He paused for a brief moment before giving a small smirk. "If all goes well, the next time we see each other this whole mess will be over."

The Doctor smirked back. "Let's hope so, eh?"

Rose grabbed Jack into a hug. "Oh, good luck Jack." she said.

Jack hugged her tightly back. "You too, Rose." he said, releasing her.

Rose prodded him on the chest a few times. "And you be careful." she warned.

"You too." Jack said, turning to face the Doctor and extending his hand. "Good luck Doctor."

The Doctor gave a lopsided smile and shook Jack's hand. "Yeah, you too."

Jack rushed towards the door to Don's room, he turned back, giving the Doctor and Rose one last unreadable look before leaving the room, closing the door behind him.

"Do you think he'll be alright?" Rose asked, after a few moments of silence.

"Yeah." the Doctor replied casually, still looking at the closed door. "Old Jack, he'll be fine."

"How long do you think it'll take Martha to trap the managers?"

"Oh, depends on how long it takes all the managers to get there. But if I were to guess, I'd say thirty, forty minutes. Why?" the Doctor asked, looking back at Rose, only to find she wasn't next to him anymore. His initial flood of panic lessened when he frantically scanned the room and found her plonking herself back down on the sofa.

"Cos, I'm knackered, and want to sit down, that's why." she explained flatly, sinking into the sofa.

The Doctor stood closer to her, his face full of concern. Rose never complained, which meant she must really be exhausted, but there was still so much to do. She caught him staring at her.

"What?" she asked fearfully, catching the look in his eyes.

"You can stay here if you want." he said seriously. "I'll handle the 456."

"Fat chance." she said instantly, her voice sharp and angry. "There's no way I'm letting you face the 456 or whatever they're really called alone, so drop it, yeah? I'm tired but I can still 'elp."

The Doctor didn't say anything for a few moments. He nodded. "Yeah, yeah, thought so." he said weekly, sitting down next to her, close to her, so they were touching at the sides. He'd had so many close calls with her in the past twenty – four hours, he was sure she'd vaporise in front of him any second, or he'd wake up; all having been a dream and he was left alone, without her yet again. He knew he'd been acting irrationally because of it; 'jumpy' one might say. But he just got her back and he didn't want to take any chances.

It was for this reason, however, that he had been horrifically putting off his next question. As in really, _really_ putting it off. But he had to know, he needed to know, because the whole universe could be in danger.

"Rose." he said seriously, causing her to tense. "How did you get here?" he asked, before realising that was too vague and quickly adding a bit on the end. "Not the ship, I mean this Earth, this world. How'd you get back?"

"Oh…" she said, clearly expecting him to say something else. "Well we all thought it was you."

The Doctor's eyes popped. "Me? How could it be me? I told you travel between parallel worlds is impossible."

"Yeah, I know but you've done it before 'aven't you? And it was all very… Doctor-ish."

"In what way?" he pressed.

"Well, there we all were, normal day. Then all of a sudden we were on some estate, all of us; me, Mickey mum, Pete, Tony –

"Tony?"

"The baby."

The Doctor shot her a look.

"Remember, mum was pregnant."

Rose could almost see the light bulb appear above the Doctor's head. "Oh, yes, so she had a boy then, lovely." he beamed.

Rose shook her head with a smile at his usual Doctor antics. "Anyway, we were all just on this estate, but it wasn't the Powell Estate it was somewhere in Manchester."

The Doctor scrunched up his face "Manchester?"

"Yeah, mum was fuming. We didn't have anything, no money, no food, nothing, sept the clothes on our backs. Thought we'd been abducted and probed or somin or the other Torchwood was doing some tests we didn't know about…" Rose's tone changed. "…but then we looked to the sky and there were no zeppelins whizzing about. " Rose gazed off into the distance, reminiscing about the whole thing, before she shook herself out of it, forcing herself to speak with a happier tone. "We 'ad to call around for mum's cousin Mo to come get us, and even then it was lucky I even 'ad my phone at all. They'd been told we were dead, so that was an interesting conversation." She paused for a bit, her voice wavering, just a little. "And I kept waiting for you to turn up, cos I thought, who else could do it? Who else could bring us back, and then I remembered Sarah – Jane sayin' you dropped her off in Aberdeen instead 'v Croydon, and I thought, well it must be you." Rose smiled in an attempt to cover up the fact that the memory was making her upset.

"Rose." the Doctor said sincerely. "There's no way I could bring you back to this Earth and not see you again."

Rose looked at him and patted his leg affectionately. "Yeah, I know that now."

The Doctor smiled but couldn't help a wave of guilt surge through him at the thought of her waiting for him day in and day out. Just like Sarah – Jane, and Reinette. Then he felt even more guilty as he remembered what else he had done to hurt Rose; that he had ran to Reinette to escape the closeness he was feeling towards her, allowed himself to feel genuine emotions towards her and hurt both of them in the process. Why Rose still wanted to put up with him, he had no idea, absolutely not a clue. He didn't deserve her, but for some unexplainable reason she still wanted to stay with him… or let him stay with her? She hadn't specified that part yet.

"But I've been thinking…" Rose began, snapping the Doctor out of his thoughts. "Do you think it could've bin you, but like from the future or somemin? Like how you went back for me in Cardiff?"

The Doctor considered it. "I mean, there's a slight, a slight, tiny chance," the Doctor pressed two fingers together, leaving a tiny gap between them for empathies. "- I mean I minuscule chance, it could be a future version of myself. But then that means that I find a way to cross the void, and that's impossible, really, impossible."

"Hmm. yeah" Rose said, seeming a bit dejected, like that wasn't what she wanted to her.

"What?" the Doctor pressed.

Rose seemed hesitant to say it and for a few moments it seemed like she wouldn't as she fiddled with her hands nervously. "But if it wasn't you…, then, do you think, it could'v bin me?"

"You?" the Doctor asked bewildered.

"Well, yeah… I mean not now, but you know when I looked into the Tardis, then. I brought Jack to life maybe I could bring people back from parallel worlds, like I knew it was goin' to happen or somemin, so I brought myself back to this world in the future, if that makes sense."

The Doctor thought, the cogs turning in his mind. "No." he said after too long a while for that to be his only answer.

Rose didn't seem to believe him.

"Why? Do you remember seeing an older version of yourself at all?" he asked quickly, reading her expression, the alarm clear in his voice.

"Well, no… but I don't remember a lot from when it happened. I remember thinking I want Jack to be alive, I don't remember seeing him or anything… but I it was like I knew he was dead and my thoughts we just _so_ strong, it was weird." Rose sighed. "And then I overdid it." she said sadly.

"Rose, you saved his life, saved the Earth."

Rose didn't seem comforted by his words as she continued. "But I had the _same_ thoughts about keeping you safe." she pressed. "So what if I did it then?"

The Doctor sighed, considering, before his tone turned lighter. "Well, I mean is it possible? Honestly I don't know." he admitted. "Looking into the Tardis; that's not meant to happen. It's anyone's guess how powerful you really were in that state. But, do I think it's likely? No. You saw what happened to the Tardis when we went to Pete's world the first time around. The poor girl almost died. The power you had in that state originated from the Tardis, so, theoretically, since the Tardis in unable to travel through the void, then you, in theory, wouldn't have been able to either. And even if you did, dragging yourself and your family back through the void, finding them - the right them - in a sea of infinite parallel worlds, and bringing them back to the correct time, the correct place, so the timelines converge in just the right way, now that, _that,_ really is impossible." he explained.

"So, what do you think happened?" Rose asked, accepting his answer.

The Doctor puffed air out of his cheeks. "Honestly, I don't know…" he paused suddenly, but it wasn't his usual; something's hit me like a brick wall and now I've got the answer. It was more, I've just stopped myself from saying something I didn't want to say.

"What?" Rose asked calmly.

"It's just that I've, well… I've been sort of, you know, checking, for gaps in the walls of reality… just in case…well, just on the off chance… " He let out a breath. "I could get you back." he admitted, not daring to cast a look her way.

Rose felt a mixture of emotions swell inside her, of giddiness and sorrow, pride and longing. She'd always known he cared about her but she'd always had this thought at the back of her mind; a thought that niggled away at her; that she was just another companion. That he cared for them all like he cared for her, and then dropped them just as easily when someone better came along. She'd accepted it would be like that because she loved him and he seeing the universe with him was worth it, helping people and planets was worth it. But everything that he'd said since they were reunited, and the way he'd been acting since being on the spaceship together had told her the contrary, making her feel all happy inside. He loved her, really loved her. But his behaviour had also made it clear to her that he had really had a hard time without her and that made her heart ache for him. She had her mum, and Pete, and Mickey, and then later there was Jack, all of them with her to help her; who understood what she was going through. He was alone, at least he was when they talked on Bad Wolf Bay, on the Tardis all by himself, having no one to talk to about it.

She pulled him into a hug and didn't let go.

The Doctor didn't hug her back, he couldn't. The way Rose's arms were wrapped around his and the angle at which they were sitting so in the end he settled on resting his head on hers.

They just sat there for a few moments, before the Doctor lifted his head up and continued what he was saying as though nothing had happened. "But I didn't find anything – obviously. Meaning, that whatever, or, whoever, brought you back they could do it without leaving a trace, not even a whisper. Which takes an impossible, I mean impossible amount of power, way more than what you demonstrated when you were merged with the Tardis."

There was another brief moment of silence, the Doctor thinking away.

"But do you think we'll be alright?" she asked, lifting her head so she could see his face, still holding on to him.

The Doctor moved his mouth but no sound came out as he hesitated on what to say next. He let out a sigh. "I don't know." he said sadly, deciding to be honest. "I just don't know."

Rose squeezed him tighter. She thought for a little bit. "I think we'll be okay."

"Yeah?"

"Yes." she said with certainty.

"What makes you so sure?" he asked, a hint of desperation in his voice.

Rose was a bit surprised that he'd ask her for reassurance; it was usually the other way around. "I dunno…" she thought, her brain searching for a way to put her feelings into words. "I guess, there must be a reason why I was brought back and if it wasn't you then, it must be cos whoever it was wanted our help, or wants our help… or will need our help." Rose puffed air out her cheeks. "God time travel is confusing."

The Doctor chuckled. "Isn't it just."

"And I think we 'av a chance of stopping whatever it is we're supposed stop… or help, or, yeah, just whatever we're going to do, cos why bother sending me back in the first place if it didn't work?...if it isn't going to work… oh you know what I mean." she wave a hand about dismissively.

"Yeah." the Doctor assured, seeming a lot less distressed about the whole thing than he was a few moments ago, Rose's words striking a cord with him. "So, you think whatever brought you back, was kind or at least not trying to end the universe or the usual fire and brimstone we seem to deal with?"

"Well… yeah, I guess. I mean it didn't hurt me or mum or anyone, and it tried to drop us back home," Rose yawned, her eyes feeling heavy. "Sorry."

"No, it's okay."

"…That's why we all thought you had something to do with it."

The Doctor considered. Rose was right, whatever had happened it didn't seem ominous, extremely, extremely, powerful, but not ominous, and it'd gone out of their way to stop ripping a gap in the universe, which was, how he perceived it, a thoughtful gesture. Maybe it _was_ him in the future, ending the loop, or maybe it was a creature or being that they would meet, stranger things had happened. He sighed, well it be pointless to ponder it now, nothing he could do but wait. And anyway, Rose was back, Rose was back with him, he'd nearly lost her twice already, but she was here, right next to him, hugging him. And if he believed in anything, he believed in her; this brilliant, kind human, that, for some reason, loves him; an old, broken, cowardly, Time Lord.

He smiled. "You're right, Rose Tyler." he said in a much more relaxed voice. "No use threating about it, just have to wait and see, eh?"

Rose didn't reply. He quickly turned his head to look at her face.

She was asleep, still clinging to him like a koala on a tree branch.

She looked so peaceful, despite the situation.

He tried to stay as still as possible, so to not disturb her, as he waited for Martha or Mickey to contact them; telling him that the managers, hopefully, had been detained. What he was going to do with them he didn't know. He knew what he _wanted_ to do with them; sling them in the Tricardu prisons of Geldge Nine; see how they liked it. But then what about the all-important one chance? Well, they'd lost that hadn't they? The second they tore Rose away from him. But then, what about Rose, and Martha, and Jack, what would they think of him? Would they look down on him for choosing vengeance? Be disappointed in him? Because he did not want that. Or would they learn from him? Try and imitate him? Would he turn them in to vengeful beings like him, harden them to the horrors of the universe, like he'd done so many others?

He sighed.

Maybe it'd be best if it wasn't his choice this time around.

* * *

Elsewhere in the ship, Martha weaved through the mismatched corridors, her mask fully covering her face so the managers wouldn't recognise her. She didn't have much time. Once all the managers were gathered in the dance hall, it was only a matter of minutes before they realised something was up and began filtering out of the room, leaving the others to have to face off with them one on one.

She followed the directions to the letter, praying that whatever Mickey told the managers would be waiting for them in the dance hall was enough to get them all to go there... and for none of them to be sauntering about... allowing for enough time to pass for the managers already in the dance hall to get impatient and leave. Martha mentally screamed, so much could go wrong! There were so many possibilities to consider. The Doctor or Jack couldn't have thought of a more reliable plan? She quickened her pace to the dance floor, turning the final corner.

She peered around, there was a crowd of them waiting by the door, talking about what 'the reward' could be and chuckling to themselves like they were in a beer garden. But most infuriatingly, they weren't going inside. She couldn't push such a crowd in all by herself. She racked her brain on what to do and hastily got out one of the devices the managers had that Mickey had given her earlier.

She texted; _Managers not going into room – Martha_

Mickey typed back; _Why not?_

_Not sure, they are chatting about some reward thing._

_It's what I told them was there from the 456 – see if you can hear what else they are saying, maybe I can send another message._

_k._

Martha let out a long breath as she leaned on the wall, blocking her body from the managers' line of sight. She could only make out the 'reward' part because they were being so loud about it and she couldn't get closer because otherwise the managers would see her, her yellow hazmat suit sticking out like a sore thumb, especially since there was no smog to use as cover.

There was no smog….

She could take of her mask, so far the gas that the 456 needed to breathe had been visible, and the air was clear, so she'd be okay… wouldn't she?

Well, she didn't really have a choice the clock was ticking.

She carefully and quietly pulled off the mask part of the hazmat suit, holding her breath as she prepared for her eyes and skin to burn.

But there was no such sensation.

She risked a gulp of air, remembering what Jack had told them earlier.

It didn't burn her throat or force her into a coughing fit.

The 456 gas must be off, thank God for that.

She gingerly peered around the corner again, hoping now she'd be able to catch more of the managers' conversation without her mask muffling the sound.

"And did you see that match last night."

"All right rub it in. Next time, wait and see, next time."

"Yeah I will, and I'll be hearing you say the same thing again." the manager burst out laughing.

"Yeah, alright, alright." a different manager looked around. "Where is Don anyway?"

"No idea, still having his fun probably, he doesn't need a reward."

The other managers nodded in agreement.

Martha sneaked back to the cover of the wall again, she had what she needed.

 _There waiting for 'Don.'_ She texted Mickey.

_Okay give me a sec ;-)_

Martha had to supress a scoff, yet couldn't fight the grin forming on her face. This guy was _the_ Rose Tyler's ex? What made her dump him, he seem so much more down to Earth and fun-loving compared to the Doctor.

She was snapped out of her thoughts as she heard yelling from the other managers.

"Wa-hay! Lads did you see that IM Don just sent." said one manager, looking at his handheld device, causing the other managers to look at their devices and cheer, before they huddled themselves towards the door.

Martha waited until the last one sauntered through before she pelted up to the door as fast as her legs would pump and yanked it closed, pulling the leaver down on the bulky submarine like door with all her strength.

Martha heard a shifting sound followed by a large clunk as the door sealed. The managers instantly knew something was up and started thumping the door, yelling every profanity under the sun.

Martha stepped back, smirking, serves them right, she thought, as she waved at them playfully, before walking away.

She called Rose's phone. "Hi, Rose? It's done."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Earth's Secret Army pIII
> 
> When: Wednesday/ Thursday 
> 
> Other notes: The convo between Rose and the Doctor in this chapter sort of sets up to the series that I'm planning with this universe... once I get round to actually writing the 'episodes' I've planned out.


	25. Day Four - Chapter Five, Earth's Secret Army pIII

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm certain I need a warning for this chapter. It deals with some heavy themes, that involves (minor) character death, so please if that's not your thing you might want to give this one a miss.

* * *

_Thames House – London_

"We asked that you not communicate using the children." Harriet said sternly, just as she'd been informed that all the children across the world had begun chanting again. This time they were saying ten percent of their countries' population.

Harriet impatiently waited for the 456 translators to kick in.

"This is the most efficient way… the most efficient to communicate." the deep, bellowing voice cracked through the speakers.

Behind her, Torchwood suddenly barged into the room, guns at the ready, like they were robbing a bank.

There was only one more canister to disable, the one in the negotiation room itself. The entrance into the room was right dab in the middle of the negotiation area, completely striping the team of any chance to be discreet. So their only option was to go in loud, cause a scene; a distraction, and hope the single signal blocker, that Tosh was able to prepare given the time frame, bought them enough time to disable the device.

"Nobody move!" yelled Owen, jerking his gun towards the UNIT officer, who begrudgingly sat back down, his arms held up in surrender.

Meanwhile, Ianto aimed his gun at the group of inters holding the camera. "Get on the floor now!" he demanded, in a tone that surprised even himself, it was so confident. They trembled as they dropped the equipment, some of it smashing on the floor as they shakily sat down.

Harriet stood firm, glaring down Gwen, who had her finger on the trigger ready to fire.

This was not the first time she had stared death in the face, and she wasn't entirely convinced that was what this was. She knew about the canisters, and she knew from what Captain Jack had told UNIT that the Doctor had intrusted Torchwood to solve the issue. She could see the hidden plead behind Gwen's eyes and knew that this must be part of their plan to disable the devices. After all it, made sense that there was one planted in this room. "Do as they say." she commanded the other people in the room, hoping to prevent any counter attack but the UNIT officer, holding her hands up in surrender, before she turned to the 456. "I'm afraid we'll have to pause the negotiations for now." she explained calmly.

Owen looked at the tank and smirked, marching closer towards it, lowering his weapon and holstering it as he tried to push down his fear. He had to be intimidating enough that these _things_ would take him seriously. The tank/ cage / containment unit or whatever it was looked a lot bigger close up; almost two stories high. Inside, he could see the abstract shapes moving through the thick fog. It looked so ominous. "No, now you listen here." he commanded in the most intimidating tone he could muster. "We're Torchwood and we're taking over this negotiation, have you got that?"

While he spoke Ianto kept his gun trained on the 'hostages' so that Tosh and Gwen could tend to the canister placed just above the entrance, the interns shot them a few terrified looks, knowing nothing about the canisters, but Harriet and the UNIT officer had their attention fully focused on Owen.

There was a hiss from the speakers. "Torchwood?" the voice bellowed, much scarier sounding than Owen thought it would be, causing him to take a tiny hesitant step back. "You were there in the beginning. You were decimated. You do not exist."

Owen regained his stand-offish stance. "Yeah, well looks like you don't know as much about Earth as you should." he said casually. "We're still here, only this time the deals off, you're not getting what you want."

"You yielded in the past. You will do so again." the 456 retorted.

"Not this time."

Despite the monotone sound of the voice, Owen could've sworn it sounded smug. "Even if you disable the canister you cannot stop us." it echoed, causing the whole team to stop in their tracks, Owen swinging his head fearfully towards where Tosh and Gwen were working, the whole team's eyes wide like saucers.

After a few seconds passed and there was no sign of the poison going off the team frantically continued their work, Owen turning back towards the glass tank, only to jump back as ooze spluttered on the glass.

"Now, that's disgusting." he muttered to himself.

The speakers rattled again. "We control all of Earth's children. We kill all of them, or take some of them, so explain, how will you stop us? You yielded in the past. You will do so again."

Owen squirmed slightly at the 456's response, the pressure he was under was immense. If he got it wrong now, if Jack hadn't disabled the transmitter, then he'd be responsible for making the 456 pull the trigger. Nevertheless, he stood his ground and swallowed his fear.

"See, the thing is…." his voice came out meek, he forced himself to calm down and he rooted his feet, coughing a little to get his voice back in working order. "That's where you're wrong."

"Explain."

"We know about Blake Peters, the guy you hired to help you make your little bombs, you wanted to keep it secret too didn't you? Well guess what? We found you out." His voice grew in confidence, splaying his arms outwards. "You're not the big bad aliens you want us to think you are…"

"Owen." Gwen warned quietly, the canister having been disabled while he'd been talking.

But Owen continued as though he hadn't heard her. "You couldn't even kill us with our own bloody weapon." Owen laughed humourlessly, as the rest of the team glanced nervously at one another. But it was all a ploy to extend the time. "You wanted to scare us into thinking you could gas us with our own poison, but you couldn't even do that." Owen's voice suddenly turned harsh as he instantly recovered from his bout of hysteria. "You say you can kill all our kids, yeah, well, we say that's bullshit."

There was a long pause from the 456, if Owen didn't know any better, he'd say they were speechless. "You yielded in the past. You will do so again."

Owen chuckled dryly, enjoying staring down the alien threat. "Oh yeah?" he strolled up to the glass chamber confidently. "Prove it." he said quietly, his face inches from the glass, there was another pounding of sludge but Owen didn't react in the slightest this time around, outwardly anyway, on the inside he was bricking it. How the fuck was Jack going to stop the transmitter?

There was a pause…

Owen counted the seconds; 'one, two, three.'

But sixteen seconds in and nothing happened.

"Explain, the transmitter is unresponsive, explain." the voice demanded.

Owen's whole body slumped as did Harriet's and the rest of the team's, lowering their weapons in the process. Owen backed away from the tank and stumbled over to the nearest table leaning on it for support, his legs suddenly feeling wobbly.

"He did it." Ianto heaved. "He actually did it."

"Oh, Jack you brilliant bastard." Gwen cheered, grinning like a maniac.

"I think you'll find he had a little help from one of us." the UNIT officer at the desk chimed it, standing up after realising this was part of Torchwood's plan.

"Oh, well done Captain." Harriet muttered to herself.

"Explain." demanded the voice.

"Yeah, my bad, I forgot to mention before that we have someone on your ship, disabling the transmitter your using to control the children, so it looks like you can't kill the children after all." Owen explained.

"Yeah, you'll remember Torchwood now you bastards!" Gwen added, shouting at the chamber.

There was a long pause and for a short amount of time, the room actually believed they had won. But then an alarm wailed through the building and thick steel shutters slammed down over all the entrances, locking them in.

"Then you will pay." boomed the voice.

Lights from the chamber started to rapidly flash, whirling around like a police siren. The door to the large chamber popped open, causing the thick gas to tumble into the smaller chamber next to it.

"It's trying to get out!" yelled Tosh.

* * *

_Tron-nii-Ka system – Section; One – delta - seven_

One moment Rose was talking to the Doctor, the next she felt him suddenly jerk next to her. It was only when she willed her eyes to open and found that her mouth was dry that she clocked on she'd been sleeping. But she was so tired that she drifted straight back to sleep without realising it.

"Rose." the Doctor called.

Rose grunted, she felt so content she didn't want to move just yet, just five more minutes, that's all. Then she'd… What was she doing again?

"Rose." the Doctor tried again. Rose felt his weight shifting.

She grumbled in protest, feeling a buzzing sensation on the surface of her chest.

After a few more moments she realised it was her phone ringing and the urgency of the situation came flooding back to her. Her phone was ringing. They were stopping the 456.

She jerked awake, the Doctor grabbing her shoulders. "Phone!" she yelled. "Martha!" She scrambled to get to her mobile through the head hole in her hazmat suit. She swore that if she never wore one of these things again it'd be too soon.

She frantically wrestled her hand holding the phone out of the suit and pressed the accept button, a difficult task given the bulky gloves she was wearing. "Martha!? Did you do it? Are you okay?"

" _Rose? Yeah, it's done_."

Rose looked at the Doctor. "She's done it."

The Doctor beamed and took the phone from her. "Oh Martha Jones good work!" he announced happily. "Now head back to the server room, we'll call you once we're done with the… transmitter." He paused briefly. "And you be careful. The 456 are still on the ship, it's only a matter of time before they realise their staff are missing."

" _You too."_ Martha said seriously. " _And Doctor?"_

"Yeah?"

" _The transmitter, will they..."_ Martha sighed, rewording what she wanted to ask. " _Will they go peacefully? I mean, that **is** what you meant when you said about dealing with the transmitter, right?"_

The Doctor's face fell. "Yeah." he said dejectedly. Rose studied him carefully, able to make out bits and pieces of what's being said.

" _It's for the best."_

"Is it?"

" _Yes_." Martha said with certainty. " _Look at it this way, is there any chance of them being able to function without that life extender thing?"_

"No."

" _Any chance of them, mentally, making a full cognitive recovery?"_

"No."

" _Then what about physical? They've probably been strapped to that stretcher for decades. Any chance they'll regain full motor control?"_

"No."

" _Are they in pain? From being exposed to the gas and God knows what else over the time the 456 have had them?"_

"…Yes."

" _Then, doesn't that answer your question? It's like in med-school they teach you about quality of life and stuff like that. What life kind of life will those children have even if you could disconnect them, or whatever it is you need to do, without killing them? They'd just be living like they are now, and it wouldn't be just for another few years would it? It'll be decades, centuries? A lot longer than they should anyway. They're in pain, don't they deserve some peace_?"

The Doctor didn't answer her question. "See you back at base." he said, hanging up the phone afterwards.

"Doc-" Rose began.

She wanted to tell him that it was okay but whatever she was going to say was cut short as the Doctor grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet. She'd known for a while now that it'd be the Doctor who'd have to deal with the children in the end. But she could tell in the way he was acting, that as he was getting closer and closer to having to actually face it, he was starting to let the guilt take over and let the nagging questions on whether or not this was the right thing start to eat away at him. She hated how it always had to be him to make these sort of decisions. And it tore her up seeing how much it affected him every, single, time. But he clearly didn't want to talk about it... he never did.

"Come on, we've got to move quickly. I know you're tired but we don't have a lot of time." the Doctor explained, dragging her out the door, his hand clasped in a familiar vice like grip around hers.

"Doctor, about what Martha said." Rose tried again, trying not to stumble over her own feet, as the Doctor pulled her through the various mismatched corridors, some looking similar to the spaceship on Kroptor, and some looking like a GP's waiting room; only tackier.

The Doctor just kept moving, pretending not to hear her question.

A few minutes later they were back at the large metal birdcage structure, with the child wired into the machine, placed on a raised platform at the base of the structure; surrounded by different terminals of monitoring equipment; wires and piping winding around the cage with several wires leading to the child. Now that Rose had her mask down she could hear the hums and cackles of the machinery around her.

As soon as she entered, the child looked directly at her and Rose's stomach abruptly plummeted. It was probably nothing compared to what the Doctor was feeling right now, if only she could do something more.

"I think they know we're here." she told him as he wordlessly let go of her hand and moved to the stations in front, flicking switches and adjusting the controls. "They looked at me before as well, when I was first in here."

"This one isn't being used as a.. _hit_." he explained sadly, the last word sliding out in disgust. "Their brain needs to be active for the transmitter to function."

"What so their conscious?!"

The Doctor didn't look at her and continued adjusting the controls. "In a way." he explained. "Their language centres are functioning normally, they have to in order for the transmitter to be able to broadcast… But they've been part of it for so long, there's just no way to tell how much of _them_ is left in there." Rose could hear the inner turmoil in his voice.

Rose looked back at the child, she couldn't tell if they were a boy or girl, their body looking so sickly and their clothes basically rags, probably the same ones they went missing in.

"Doctor." she said calmly, the Doctor still adjusting the controls. "About what Martha said."

The Doctor stopped what he was doing mid-flick, his whole body stiff, still refusing to look at her.

"This isn't your fault, you know that, yeah?"

The Doctor didn't say anything. Instead, he slowly returned to adjusting the controls.

"I mean it." Rose said walking up to him and turning him to face her. She looked directly into his eyes as she spoke. "It's not your fault." she said clearly.

He still didn't say anything, his eyes boring into hers, showing every year of his age, all the pain and suffering he'd endured.

Rose didn't know what else to do to help him, Martha had already said everything that could possibly make him feel better, so she pulled him into a hug. He was ridged and even jerked slightly when she pulled him closer, like the reaction was foreign to him. But, after several seconds, he wordlessly hugged her back.

They stayed like that for a while, until the Doctor pulled back. "I'll set up the machine so it will slowly shut down. They've suffered enough. It'll be like they're falling asleep."

Rose looked up at him as soon as he pulled away, he wasn't looking at her, and was pretending to focus on the machinery. She knew it was because he was trying to hide how upset the whole situation was making him. She looked back at the child, they were all alone on the large platform. "I'll stay with them, y' know. So there not on their own."

The Doctor nodded. "I'll tell you when it's time."

Rose approached the platform, the child's eyes glaring straight at her as she did so. "It's okay, don't worry. We're here, we're not going to hurt you." she said slowly, carefully putting her hand on their arm in an attempt to comfort them. But when her hand made contact the child closed their eyes, reminding Rose of a cat with longed to be petted, her heart breaking at the thought. How could the managers have just sat here and done nothing?

Meanwhile the Doctor moved from station to station, silently adjusting the controls.

"We're here." Rose continued, fighting back her tears and trying to be brave. "We've got you, it's okay you're safe now, yeah?" She glanced back at the Doctor who gave her the slightest of nods, his hand hovering over the final switch.

Rose nodded back and he flicked the switch. The hum sounds slowly started to lessen and the lights above her began to flicker off. "It's okay, it's going to be alright." her voice breaking as she spoke. She didn't know what else to say as she watched their chest's rise and fall, the intervals between getting longer and longer.

The Doctor joined her at her side and put two fingers to the child's neck.

"They're gone." the Doctor said sadly, putting his free arm around Rose's shoulder.

Rose didn't say anything and tried to fight back the tears; the child's body suddenly looking so small, taking up so little space.

"I'll call Jack." the Doctor stated after a few moments had passed, taking away his hand and reaching in to the head hole of his hazmat suit to pull out Rose's phone. Rose was unable to take her eyes off the child, they'd gone through so much suffering, only to end up like this.

In the background she could hear the dial tone from her mobile. It rang for a lot longer than she thought it would, making her feel a little uneasy.

When Jack did finally pick up the phone, the sound of shuffling and hissing crackled through the speaker.

"Jack?" the Doctor asked.

" _He-_ _ **hissss**_ _\- Doc – oh, hell. –_ _ **whisssppzz**_ _–_ "

"JACK?" the Doctor yelled in a panic, causing Rose to whirl to face him and move closer to the phone.

" _Doc_ _ **– izzzz**_ _– we've got a problem here –_ _ **hissss**_ **.** "

"Why? What is it? What's wrong?"

Jack sounded very out of breath. " _There's a problem with the pumping sta –_ _ **kiszzz**_ _– they must've upgraded the security system – I don't recognise it –_ _ **hissss**_ _– I tripped it –"_ An alarm suddenly wailed through the phone _. "_ _ **waaahooo waahhooo**_ _– it's upped the gas – I'm trying to hold it off but – damn it – I'm not sure how long I can hold it. -_ _ **AH**_ "

"JACK! Jack, listen to me, the vents are close we'll all head to you, just hold it a little longer."

" _Easier said that done_!"

The phone went dead, the Doctor grabbed Rose's hand and tore off in the direction of the vents, smashing the keys on the mobile with his free hand. "MARTHA! Both of you head to the vent room, NOW!"

The Doctor hung up the phone before Martha had the chance to ask why.

* * *

_Thames House_

"They've hacked into your network." Tosh explained quickly, while the rest of the team and UNIT officer aimed their weapons at the smaller chamber, now completely filled with gas, Owen backing up to where the rest of the team were by the computer. "I'm trying to override it, but the gas they breathe is deadly, if they release it into the room-"

Harriet marched around to the desk, studying the screens. "Failing that, we need to prevent the gas from spreading." She snapped her attention to the UNIT officer. "Is there anything we can use in here to hold back the gas, or at least anything that can monitor the spread of it; should the glass be breached?"

"There's an infrared gas sensor on the hazmat suits. We can use them to monitor the concentration of the gas. But I have no idea what percentage is the lethal dose." the UNIT officer added.

Owen rushed to grab the hazmat suit from a hook on the far wall and brought it to the group. "26%." he stated bluntly.

"Then we seal the door, so even if they do get into the secondary chamber, they won't be able to get out." Ianto added.

"But we don't have anything to seal the doors with!" said Gwen in a fluster.

Owen looked to the secondary chamber, now completely filled with the toxic gas, no, not just toxic; corrosive. "Fuck!" Owen turned to Tosh. "Come on Tosh, you must be able to do something."

"I'm tryin-"

But it was too late, the secondary chamber opened and poisonous gas spilled into the room.

* * *

_Tron-nii-Ka system – Section; One – delta - seven_

The Doctor and Rose whirled around the final corner to the vent room at an impressive pace. Martha and Mickey were impatiently waiting by the door, whom rushed up to both of them as soon as they spotted them.

"Doctor what is it? What's happening?" Martha asked in a panic.

"No time." the Doctor said quickly, aiming the sonic at the panel and opening the door. "In, in in!" he rapidly repeated, waving his free hand around frantically towards the entrance.

Rose, Mickey and Martha quickly scrambled inside.

The vent control room was a sight to be seen; violent hissing and blaring alarms filled their ears, black smoke from one of the machine terminals filled the air and climbed up the walls; lit red with the warning lights. The dials and readout on the machine were going haywire and the thick tubing was rattling like it was in an earthquake, making it instantly clear to everyone that things were not going well. Amongst it all, Jack was scrambling from station to station, switch board to switch board, but as soon as one problem was solved another one appeared.

The Doctor rushed over just as another alarm blared and slammed down a lever. "They've added a Holmnarious security system –" a hiss of oxygen forced itself through a machine, creating a spray of white fog, the Doctor rushed over and starting turning the dials, causing the hiss to weaken and eventually stop, while Jack tried to sort yet another problem happening at a different station. "It can't be overridden once the process has started –" the Doctor's attention snapped towards the door, suddenly realising something. "And now the 456 know we're here." Rose, Martha, and Mickey spun their heads back to the door they just entered through.

"Close the door, close the door!" Rose screamed as she and the others ran towards it full pelt.

"Quickly!" they heard the Doctor cry as he continued to attempt the dull the machine, switching his focus between what he was doing and his friends.

They slammed it shut, just as all three of them heard something large crash into the back of the door. They all jolted back from the impact; so great they felt the vibrations travel up their feet.

"Rose, Martha, Mickey are you all alright?" the Doctor called in a panic, joining Jack at a station and rapidly flicking switches. "Flood the boiler, increase the pressure on the pumping station, then feed it through." the words spilled out the Doctor's mouth.

Poor Jack was struggling with the technology he'd never seen before, trying his best to follow the Doctor's instructions.

The Doctor briefly jerked his head towards the door, not liking the pause from the other three, scanning them from where he was standing. "Are you all alright?!" he asked angrily, trying to do five things at once, wishing they'd just answer his bloody question.

"Yeah, yeah, we're fine." Mickey called out over the sounds of the frantic machinery.

There was another loud thud at the door, causing the three to jerk further back. Outside, they could hear a horrid screeching sound, like an injured animal, crying out in frustration. Jack risked a look but his attention was quickly forced back to the spluttering machine.

"Everyone, masks on!" the Doctor ordered as he glanced to the door. It wasn't going to hold for long.

The others obeyed.

"Martha!" he called, pointing wildly at another station behind him. "Pull that lever there! Then flick all the switches to eight."

Martha quickly rushed to the station, adjusting her mask in the process.

"Rose, those dials turn them all to seven o'clock." ordered the Doctor as he madly pointed to a different station, away from Martha.

"Right!" said Rose, sprinting towards the station, the machine around her still hissing wildly, alarms blaring in her ears.

The entrance was hit again; shaking the whole room, sounding as loud as thunder, the 456 trying desperately to break down the door.

"Mickey! That terminal over there." said the Doctor, vaguely waving a hand about without looking as he rushed to another terminal and began tuning the machine. "Earth technology, hack into it!"

Mickey ran to the terminal, not saying a word, already planning what he was going to do.

"But we can't override it!" Jack cried, trying to keep up with the Doctor. "And the gas is so dense, such an increase in concentration will starve off the oxygen, the prisoners will suffocate, us along with them!"

"True, we can't override it, but we can shut the whole pumping station down, automatically rebooting the auto – oxygenation protocols. We just need to hold the gas back until I can activate the shutdown sequence."

Martha looked up at him. "But if we shut the vents down then doesn't that mean the 456 will have nothing to breathe?"

"Yes, but we don't have a choice, it's them or us and the prisoners." he explained, quickly glancing at Martha once he'd finished, looking for her reaction.

Martha nodded.

"Dials at seven o'clock done." stated Rose. "What else do you need me to do?"

The Doctor pointed to the terminal Jack was by. "Help Jack keep it level."

There was another immense bang at the door. This time the impact was so forceful the sturdy metal door dented.

"It's not going to hold." cried Mickey.

"Just keep working!" yelled the Doctor.

Mickey turned back to the screen and tried block out everything going on around him.

"Martha –" The Doctor guided Martha the terminal he was just working on. "You need to stabilise the pressure." he waved a hand towards a group of glass, dial readouts. "These should all be on six, if there not turn these until they're not." he turned some plastic dials to demonstrate.

Martha nodded

"I'm in." said Mickey.

"Good lad." the Doctor said as he rushed over to Mickey, leaning in to the computer screen over Mickey's shoulder. He whirled the sonic screwdriver across the screen, causing different documents to flash rapidly across the screen, the Doctor's eyes flickering back and forth as he took in the information at the blink of an eye.

The was another attack on the door, this time, however, a metal pinging sound, almost like a spring coming loose followed the loud thud of the 456's body hitting the metal. One of the hinges had come loose, popping out a thick metal screw and flinging it across the room.

Jack and Rose stopped to watch it roll ominously by their feet. "You better hurry up Doctor." he said fearfully, before an alarm sounded from their station causing him and Rose to shift their focus back on keeping everything level.

"I know." the Doctor hissed, still hastily scanning the information on the monitor.

The Doctor suddenly stopped, his hand holding the sonic screwdriver dropping to his side. "But…" he said in a squeak, looking behind him at two yellow, plastic boxes, similar in style to fuse boxes found in homes. They were on two separate columns directly opposite another, close to the door.

The Doctor's head swished back and forth between the two boxes. "But… NO! They can't have!" he yelled rushing over to one of the two boxes and studying it intently.

"Wot, wot is it?" Rose asked frantically, still madly adjusting the controls at her station.

"They've added an additional security check… a Two-man rule I…I can't override it!"

"But then we're all going to suffocate!" Martha called in a panic.

The 456 charged the door again, letting out another bone chilling scream, the metal finally buckling under the strain, creating a gap in the door, the thick smog tumbling in.

Jack stopped what he was doing. "I still have my vortex manipulator. Doctor is there any way you can fix it?"

"What about the prisoners? We can't just leave them." Rose protested. She turned to face the Doctor. "There's got to be another way! I dunno maybe we can help override this two man lock thing."

There was a sharp crumpling sound as the 456 bent the metal door in an effort to make the hole bigger, big enough than one of them was able to snake one of their horrid pincer heads through the gap, causing the gas to practically pore into the room.

"You can't! A two man rule requires two keys, to be turned at the exact same time. But I don't have a key." the Doctor explained, his words spilling out.

"But can't you use the sonic?" asked Mickey frantically, backing away from the monitor, his eye's fixed on the 456's dripping, bulbous head, before avidly looking for something to arm himself with.

"Yes, of course I can! But that's the point! Both switches need to be activated at the same time and I've only got one sonic screwdriver."

Rose, Mickey and Jack's faces suddenly fell, all traces of panic and tension present in their expressions and body language evaporating instantly as they stared at the Doctor awe struck.

Although, the Doctor and Martha couldn't see their faces through the masks, the change in the three's demeanour was enough. "What?" the Doctor asked, slight fear in his voice.

Jack and Mickey both turned to Rose at the same time.

"Rosie." Jack said sternly, completely ignoring the Doctor. "Tell me you still have it."

"Still have what?" the Doctor asked, but none of the three spared a glance at him.

"Rose." said Mickey, glancing at the door which was creaking as the 456 started to use their hoof like leg to bend the metal even further. "Hurry up."

"Has what? What does she have?" asked the Doctor quickly, frustrated that he was being ignored still.

Meanwhile Rose was frantically wiggling out of her sleeves, desperately searching her jean pockets, her bra, anywhere she might've put it. She couldn't remember exactly what she'd done with it; seeing the Doctor had thrown her, but surely she would've held on to it. It was important.

Thankfully, she still had it, in back pocket of all places.

She sighed in utter relief as she slipped it out from a gap in the head hole of her hazmat suit. "Sonic lipstick." she breathed.

The Doctor's face was a picture, he was flabbergasted, completely floored, not what he was expecting in the slightest. "Sonic, what… _what_?" he asked his mouth hanging open, now completely oblivious to the increased banging around him.

Martha was speechless.

"Sonic lipstick." Rose explained as she took off the cap and twisted the end, revealing the sonic technology.

"You have a sonic?" The Doctor asked bewildered.

"Yeah, less questions more stopping the giant alien heads thing from tryin' to kill us!" yelled Mickey.

The Doctor stared at Rose for another second, his mind moving a mile a minute as all sorts of questions rushed through his brain, none of them related to the 456. "You have a sonic where'd you get that?" he asked lightly.

"DOCTOR!" cried Martha, as the 456's second head slithered through the door, a second wrinkled hoof on a muscular leg following shortly after.

"Yes, right, yes." The Doctor yanked Rose over to the two boxes so that they were standing between them. The 456 saw them approach the door and swiped at them both, the Doctor barely managing to pull Rose out of the way in time.

"Enough!" yelled the Doctor to 456, the cold fury flashing in his eyes. "We'll disable the pumping station, you'll suffocate. But if you leave now and spare the prisoners, we won't kill you." Usually, he would say we'll let you go, go on your merry way, but there was absolutely no way he was doing that after everything they'd done. After what they just forced him to do, the last time he'd had to kill a child was on Gallifrey and he hated them for making him relive that memory. But, at the same time Rose was with him, and he wanted to be better for her, so he'd made the incredibly difficult decision and decided to offer them one last chance.

But of course they didn't take it.

And he revelled in that.

The 456 ignored him completely. They lunged one of their heads towards them, Mickey running up just in the nick of time and whacking it away with a metal pole that he'd found.

"On three." the Doctor said to Rose, aiming the sonic at the box.

Rose nodded and mimicked his actions, if it'd been someone else they'd would panic whether or not he meant on three or after three, but she'd done this enough that she knew exactly what he meant.

"One, two _, three_."

Both sonics whirled and sparks spat and spewed from the two boxes; all the dials and readouts suddenly falling to zero, the lights flickering off, leaving the room very dark. The buzzing and humming of the machines fell silent, making the cries and inhuman screeches of the 456 even more audible as they thrashed around trying to wriggle their huge bodies through the gap.

"Get back, get back!" the Doctor yelled, herding everyone towards the back of the room, Rose, Jack and grabbing something to defend themselves with as they went. Just because the 456 couldn't breathe didn't mean they'd give up. They were almost through the door, their heads spewing the disgusting yellow ooze.

The team waited in baited breath, their backs against the far wall of the room, the three who were armed poised and ready to fight, the Doctor aiming his sonic at the approaching 456.

A second later the lights flickered on again, the sound of large fans whirling around them from elsewhere in the ship, the smoke flowing into the room from the hole in the door beginning to clear, the 456's movements slowing the clearer the air became.

"What's happening?" asked Martha.

"The ships auto – oxygenation systems are kicking in, compensating for the massive influx of unidentifiable gas." the Doctor explained to the group. "Filtering out the poison and replacing it with good old oxygen, and now that we've shutdown the pumping station the 456 set up; there's nothing the 456 can do to stop it."

"What –" a voice boomed from behind the 456, sounding like it was coming from a cheap speaker, causing the whole team to tense and refocus on the door. "What have you done?" the voice demanded, the 456 halfway through the door retreating back into the corridor.

"We've shut down your little pumping system. And now the ships vents are working overtime to filter out your breathable air." explained the Doctor, loud enough for the 456 to hear him, his voice cold and steely.

"No... stop… dying." the voice pleaded.

"Too late. You had your chance." seethed the Doctor.

"Please… save us." the voice begged as the team heard one of the 456's body slump to the floor.

"No." stated the Doctor, his eyes burning with fury as he watched the beings who had caused his friends so much pain flap about pathetically on the floor through the hole in the door, their movements becoming more and more sluggish. This was not the revenge he'd wanted had they not taken his chance, which deep down he knew they'd refuse; it was far too kind, far too quick. But, luckily for the 456, it'd turned out that way.

He felt Rose grab his hand. "You okay?" she asked, grounding him.

"Oh you know me." he said joyfully. "Earth saved, never better." He looked towards Mickey. "Nice swing by the way." he complimented.

Mickey shrugged, but everyone could tell from his body language that he was chuffed. "Ah, well I knew watching all those zombie films would come in handy one day."

"And another thing…" the Doctor began giddily. "You have a sonic!" his voice absolutely brimming with pride.

"Well, technically it's Sarah – Jane's, and she wants it back ASAP."

"What you and Sarah – Jane are friends now?" the Doctor squeaked in awe.

Mickey audibly scoffed, understanding the Doctor's tone to mean something along the lines of; 'my ex and my missis are friends? Oh, what a relief, that puts me out of the line of fire and makes the reunions less of a bullet dodging fiasco.' But the Doctor shot him a confused look, completely oblivious.

Rose hit the Doctor playfully on the arm. "Shut up."

The Doctor giggled.

" _Anyway_ , what now? Get all the prisoners on the Tardis?" she said quickly, wanting to change the subject.

"What about the one still in Thames House?" Jack pressed.

The Doctor paused a little in thought. "Yes…" He suddenly took a sharp intake of breath, a thought hitting him. "THAMES HOUSE!" he yelled. "Tardis _now,_ move, move, move!" he yelled, grabbing Rose's hand and waving his free arm around, gesturing to the others to hurry up.

The rest of the team shot confused glances at one another before deciding to go with it and tried to match the Doctor's sprint.

He ran to the door and attempted to pry it open, having taken quite a lot of damage from the 456's assault. "Get it open, get it open." the Doctor yelled, through a strained voice. Jack instantly started helping, while Mickey jammed the metal pole in the gap and tried to use it as a crowbar, Martha tried to get the lock to shift, while Rose aimed the sonic lipstick, with their combined effort the door loosened and the Doctor pulled it open.

The Doctor grabbed Rose's hand again as he leaped over the bodies of the 456 and rushed the team quickly through the corridors, hoping to spare them from the sight; the 456 were still attached to the children when they died, and now that there was nothing to monitor the children's vitals… well. "Come on." he yelled urgently.

Luckily, the team followed without focusing too much on the mangled mess of bulbous heads and necks to spot the gurneys buried underneath.

* * *

_Thames House_

Torchwood, Harriet and the UNIT officer looked fearfully among one another. The smog was seeping in, edging ever closer to the other side of the room and there was nothing they could do about it.

"You will be wiped out." echoed the voice on the speaker.

The computer read; density at 8%.

Ianto scrambled to the desk grabbing some brown folders filled with information. "The gas is denser that normal air, we can fan it away." he rushed out as he started whooshing the files up and down.

"But that won't save us from getting ripped apart." stated Owen, reaching for his holstered gun and aiming it at the entrance to the chamber.

"It'll by us some time!" Ianto hissed.

9%.

"Shit he's right. Come on everyone." Gwen said grabbing another folder and joining Ianto, the UNIT officer and interns doing the same, Harriet and Tosh remaining by the computer. For an outsider looking in their actions would look comical; adults flapping bits of paper about, but they were people desperate to survive, fuelled by fear and adrenaline, the expression on all their faces made that pretty clear.

"Hold on I'm trying to undo their override." said Tosh, her fingers flying over the keys at an impressive pace.

"You can't open the door, all the gas will escape, and we can't allow that to harm the other people in the building." Harriet commanded looking over Tosh's shoulder.

"I know, but I can stop them from opening the secondary chamber." Tosh replied.

"Is there any way we can shut down whatever power supply they're using to pump the gas?" Harriet asked, her words leaving her mouth as fast as she was able.

The UNIT officer spoke up, still fanning away the fumes, but the density on the readout was 10% and climbing. "No, the whole chamber's powered by a seperate generator that's located inside the chamber itself."

"Well, whose bloody idea was that?!" Gwen yelled furiously, still frantically trying to fan away the approaching smog.

11%.

"Not, UNIT's." remarked the officer.

"I don't want to die." cried one of the interns, their make-up running as they sobbed, still attempting to frantically fan the poison away.

12%.

"I can't ov-" Tosh cried

"Humanity, clinging to hope when there is none." the speaker boomed, as the door to the main chamber opened. "You declared war on us. You will yield." it continued as a hoof stomped down in the secondary chamber and a head slinked around the entrance.

A few of the interns couldn't take the pressure any longer and collapsed onto the floor, while the UNIT officer stopped trying to fan away the smog and instead aimed their weapon at the 456.

"You can't stop!" cried Gwen, frantically still trying to fan away the fumes.

14%

But neither the UNIT officer nor the interns listen to her desperate pleas.

It seemed all hope was lost.

17%

Harriet braced herself for the inevitable.

21%

But then, suddenly there was a sound; a sound that filled the room, a whooshing and wheezing, a sort of plummeting. It sounded like an engine, but more than that, it sounded alive, ancient.

24%

Harriet slowly closed her eyes and allowed the relief to wash over her.

_Excellent timing, Doctor._

"What's it doing?" Gwen asked crazily.

"Ma'am." the UNIT officer said, his voice hitched in something between hope and sheer disbelief. "Is that what I think it is?"

Harriet sighed and opened her eyes just as a blue box started to appear in the middle of the room. "Yes, and it seems with not a second to lose." she said, the relief crystal clear in her voice. She looked at the readout of the gas density;

0%

"Why what is it? What's going on? What's happening?" Gwen asked again, stopping what she was doing and pointing her gun at the Tardis instead.

Tosh stopped typing. "I don't understand, the gas concentration has returned to normal."

"You can lower your weapons." Harriet commanded. "There is no threat here."

"Explain." demanded the voice, the 456 retreating back into the chamber, the smog suddenly forced to the edge of the room, some invisible wall sealing it in, protecting all the humans in the room, the Tardis at the epicentre, slowly materialising until, with one final plunge, the sound stopped.

Harriet marched up fearlessly to the chamber, walking past the Tardis. "Gladly." she stated. "You targeted the Earth, thought we wouldn't see past your schemes and try to fight against you, try and defend our planet. But I can tell you now, that you were sorely, _sorely_ , mistaken. You are not the first from the stars to target us, nor do I suspect you'll be the last, but know this, we have overcome every threat we have faced till this day, and I assure you that you are no different, we will never yield, not to you, nor to anyone who wishes to do us harm." she paused slightly. "Because, this planet is defended and it always will be."

A familiar voice called from behind. "Couldn't've said it better myself." The Doctor smiled, leaning casually on the Tardis, dressed in his brown suit and coat. "Though, you know," he continued, taking his time as he strolled over to where Harriet was standing. "I really should start copyrighting my speeches, I've been meaning to ever since Kennedy copied my whole space spiel, funny how things just slip your mind, eh?"

The Torchwood team look gapingly at the man in front of them, partially blocked from view by the Tardis.

"But… it's you!" Tosh said in astonishment, causing the rest of the team to look questioningly at her and the Doctor to turn around to face her. "The man from UNIT." she explained to the rest of the team.

The Doctor was about to say something but the doors to the Tardis swung open, although the team couldn't see it from their position behind the blue box.

"Harriet!" Rose cried happily, running towards Harriet, having, at long last, ditched the hazmat suit.

"Oh Rose, my precious thing, he found you." said Harriet, spreading her arms and encompassing her in a hug.

"Rose!" the team cried, moving closer to the Tardis to greet their friend.

"Hey, what about us?" Jack joked, stepping out with Mickey and Martha and closing the doors behind him.

"Jack!" Gwen cried pulling him in for a hug before looking back at the Tardis. "Mickey."

"Smith, thank fuck." Owen commented at the same time.

"What the hell is that thing?" Gwen asked as she studied the box more thoroughly. "And how the hell did you all bloody fit?"

Jack grinned. "It's roomier than it looks." He looked over to Harriet Jones.

Harriet stepped forward. "Harriet Jones, former Prime Minister."

"Yeah." Jack scoffed. "I know who you are. But I've got to say it's an honour to meet you." his voice changed as he offered his hand. "Captain Jack Harkness." he smiled.

"Oh, don't start." the Doctor and Mickey said at the exact same time.

"I was only saying hello, jeeze." Jack complained.

"Yes, that being said, time and a place Captain." said Harriet, looking just a tiny bit flustered.

"You will stop." bellowed the 456 through the speaker. "Who are you? The one with the blue box, who are you?"

All the banter stopped instantly, everyone in the room turning towards the chamber.

"I'm the Doctor." he said, his voice steely.

"Doctor? You are not of this planet. You are some remnant. What are you?"

"Oh, wouldn't you like to know? I know all about you though. Tell me does the great authority of Portán-Trí-Cheann know what you're up to here? Last I heard they don't take to kindly to members of their species that invade level five planets." The Doctor's tone turned darker "All your other associates are dead. Give up now and I'll spare your life."

Thick slime spewed across the glass.

"You lie. We have hostages. You will yield."

"Yes, I know about the people you're imprisoning on your little ship, and I'm warning you if you leave, you'll die."

The speakers were silent for a long while. Then, there was a sudden burst of fire, like an inferno that suddenly appeared out of nowhere, twisting like a tornado, consuming the 456. The Doctor stared ahead as the others shielded their eyes. A second passed and the fire retreated upwards, leaving no evidence behind; not a scorch mark nor a particle of ash.

When the intense light from the fire died down the humans in the room turned towards the chamber.

The lone 456 was gone, leaving only the yellow sludge stains on the glass behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: The aftermath + The epilogue
> 
> When: Sometime next week. 
> 
> Other notes: Only one more full chapter to go then the epilogue. Almost 150,000 words, wow thanks for sticking with it for so long.


	26. Day Four; Chapter Six - The Aftermath

_Thames House - London_

After the fire had died down the humans in the room blinked at the empty chamber. The air was thick with silence.

Did that really just happen?

Did they really just …win?

Just like that?

The 456; capable of killing all the world's children, no, they _tried_ to kill all the world's children, only to be stopped by them, UNIT, Harriet Jones, and some alien - who looked human, with a literal blue box as a spaceship.

After a few more moments the team realised; that yes, it seemed they had.

"What was that?" Tosh asked, recovering from her shock and moving up towards the chamber - near where Harriet was standing - searching the part of the ceiling where the fire entered the room. The rest of Torchwood and the lone UNIT officer approached the Doctor, Rose, and Martha who were all standing together, watching the smog swirl inside.

"An O2 scope." The Doctor replied, still watching the fog.

Martha's eyes widened. "What, like that H20 scoop thing that the Judoon used on the hospital?"

"H20 scoop?" Tosh mouthed to herself, wondering what that could be as she turned to face the Doctor. The rest of the team listened intently, wanting to know more about this strange - apparently alien man - that Jack seemed to trust so much.

"Yes, exactly like that, only this one uses pure oxygen so it looks like fire instead of rain, it's actually a bit more primitive than a H20 scoop, you need a receiver to operate it, and it's not nearly as powerful." the Doctor rambled, answering Martha's question.

"Nevertheless." Harriet interrupted. "Can I just say your timing is impeccable as always, Doctor."

The Doctor clicked his tongue and winked in Harriet's direction.

Rose smirked. "But if that's like a teleport, yeah? Then, did they go back to the ship?"

"Yep." the Doctor stated. "Another downside of an O2 scoop is that it's more tin cans on a piece of string, rather than an actual teleport. It can only take you to and from two receivers, one, of which, was on the ship by the transmitter, and the other was built along with the chamber." the Doctor shrugged. "According to their schematics anyway."

"But, if they've gone back to the ship, then what about the prisoners?" Gwen piped up, causing the Doctor, Rose, Martha, Mickey, and Harriet to shift their attention from the glass chamber, to the rest of Torchwood, standing behind them. "Won't they be trapped up there with that thing?"

The Doctor was about to explain but Rose beat him to it. "No, it's okay. There's none of that smoke up on the ship anymore, only oxygen. The 456 can't survive up there. Right, Doctor?"

The Doctor beamed. "Right you are, Rose Tyler."

"Then what about Blake Peters' cronies? Are they dead?" Owen asked bluntly, clearly cautious of the Doctor, his stance standoffish.

Rose shook her head. "Nah, they're trapped on a different part of the ship." she explained as the Doctor carefully studied Jack's Torchwood team before him.

"Blake Peters?" asked Harriet. "Then I take it they're human?"

Martha scoffed. "Yeah, unfortunately."

"Well in that case, if they are contained, and can continue to be as such without harming the prisoners, then they should be brought back to Earth and charged, let the families of the victims know that we're taking this seriously."

"I couldn't agree more, Ma'am." said the UNIT officer. "I'd be happy to arrange an arrest with my superiors, we have more than enough evidence…" he looked towards the door that still had the thick metal shutters over it. "…Once we find a way to override the security protocol." He looked back expectantly at the Doctor, as did everyone else who knew him.

"What?" the Doctor asked obliviously. "Oh, right, me!" He pointed the sonic upwards towards the ceiling, twisting the top part slightly, an expression on his face like he was listening for something. "Hold on, I've just got to…. HA!" An alarm sounded through the whole building and the metal shutters started to rise, light pouring in from the hallway as the shutters on the windows lifted too.

The Torchwood team and the interns in the room looked around the room in awe, their eyes slowly returning to the Doctor.

"How'd you do that?" Gwen asked, her eyes wide in shock.

Jack chuckled. "Trust me, we'd be here all day." he told Gwen privately, before turning back to face the Doctor. "It's good to have you with us, Doctor." he said earnestly.

The Doctor playfully winked in his direction. "Lucky charm, that's me."

Rose was trying to hide her smirk. "You can say that again." she grinned.

The Doctor beamed back at her, like there was no one else in the room.

"I'll inform the Colonels of the situation." the UNIT officer told Harriet, who nodded in agreement.

"Perhaps it best if you escort the camera crew out as well, I'm sure they would like a break after such and experience." Harriet added, looking towards the interns, some still trembling from the experience.

The officer nodded back. "Ma'am, this way please." he motioned the interns to follow, who shakily did so, still reeling from the shock.

"Sorry." said Gwen with a confused shake of her head. "But who exactly are you?" she asked the Doctor, mirroring what the rest of the Torchwood team wanted to know. "And… and how exactly do you all know each other? And what is that thing?" she looked towards the Tardis.

"I'm the Doctor." he said sternly. "Jack, Rose and Mickey used to travel with me." He gazed off into the distance as he reminisced. "Oh, a long time ago now." He shook himself out of it and nodded towards the blue box. "And that's the Tardis; Time And Relative Dimension In Space. She's my spaceship. Oh, and this is Martha by they way." Martha gave an awkward wave.

"It can travel in time?" Tosh said in amazement.

"Yep."

"In that thing?" Owen asked, looking back at the Tardis. "Yeah mate, what you on."

"Yes, that thing!" the Doctor retorted, offended by Owen's tone. "And it's not a thing, _she's_ the Tardis."

Owen scoffed. "Yeah alright. Whatever you say."

The Doctor looked utterly insulted and turned to face Rose, looking at her in complete disbelief before turning back to Owen. "Humans! A spaceship materialises right in front of you, and you still don't believe it." he complained.

Owen's stance shifted, ready for a confrontation. This guy was really starting to piss him off.

"If we could get back to the matter at hand if that's quite alright?" Harriet interrupted, halting what Owen was about to say and causing everyone else in the room to focus their attention on her, just as Colonel Mace and Oduya came marching into the room, led by the same UNIT officer.

"Ah, Colonels, I trust you've been briefed on the situation."

The Colonels nodded. "Yes Ma'am. The feeds were still running; we heard the whole exchange." Oduya answered. He turned to the Doctor and saluted, the Doctor swung his head back in frustration but Oduya continued anyway. "And thank you, Sir. I can sleep better as a father tonight, knowing that the threat has been neutralised." he said sincerely.

"Oh don't salute. And it wasn't just me." The Doctor said, looking around to the others in the room, Rose, Martha, Jack, Mickey, even Torchwood and UNIT, they'd all played a part and without them; a lot of parents would be mourning their children tonight. He smiled. "Really, though, I couldn't've done it without everyone's help, so thank you Colonel Oduya, Mace." the Doctor said sincerely.

The Colonels both glanced at each other and smirked, trying to hide how giddy the Doctor's words were making them. To be praised by the Doctor was no small feat.

"And anyway," the Doctor began. "The jobs not done yet. We still need to transport the prisoners and the managers-."

"Managers?" Ianto asked.

"Blake Peters' cronies." Mickey explained.

"Ah."

"- back to Earth. I take it you have somewhere for them to go?" the Doctor asked the Colonels.

"Sir," Mace confirmed. "We've radioed HQ to set up temporary accommodation for the prisoners, if you can bring them to the civilian lobby. –" The Doctor looked at Mace in confusion. "Where you first met with Harriet Jones." he elaborated.

The Doctor gave his usual 'ah' expression to show he understood. "The reception at the Tower of London?"

"Sir."

The Doctor thought. "Shouldn't be a problem, piece of cake."

"And wot about when they get there? Will you help them find their families?" Rose asked Mace.

"Ma'am" Mace confirmed. "We have specially trained officers standing by to interview them once the prisoners are settled."

"And you're not going to arrest them for being in the country illegally or anything like that?" Rose probed, remembering what Eric had told her about the other prisoners.

"No, Ma'am, UNIT will do everything we can to make the prisoners recovery as swift as possible."

"And where will they be staying?" Tosh asked suspiciously. "The prison cells?"

Colonel Mace was taken back a little. "Why, of course not. We've houses on site at HQ. We've arranged hotel rooms for the officers that normally stay there, while the prisoners settle in. It'll allow us to keep the prisoners in one place, where they'll have access to UNIT services should they require it."

Tosh scoffed, not seeming satisfied, causing a few questioning looks being cast her way, but no one said anything.

"What about Blake Peters' men, where do you want us to take them?" Jack asked.

"There's a secure holding unit in the Tower itself; level negative three, section D through G. We can process them there before transferring them to UNIT's holding facility." Mace explained.

"Right, you can handle that yeah, Doctor?" Jack asked with a grin.

The Doctor puffed air out his cheeks. "Can I handle it? The nerve of some people."

"But what about us?" Ianto asked Jack. "What should we do now?"

Jack's face fell, he could sense the underlying fear in Ianto's voice. That question had a double meaning and he knew it. Torchwood had no base, nothing to monitor the rift, and now that this was over, they had nothing to fight against. "I need you to head back to bas- the gym, and start packing up the equipment, we've played our part, it's time to head home."

Sensing that this was a private conversation between the members of Torchwood, Harriet motioned the Colonels away from the group and spoke to them privately. There were still many things to address, the nation for one, the trial of Blake Peters' associates, and of course who was going to run the country now that Green and Frobisher were in custody. The Doctor briefly glanced her way but stayed next to Rose, listening to Jack's conversation.

"And what then?" Gwen asked, too absorbed in what Jack was saying to notice Harriet and the UNIT officers.

Jack sighed and looked at them sadly. "We wait." he said solemnly. "The explosion took out the rift manipulator, without it we can't monitor rift activity, we'll have to wait until everything's rebuilt, until then consider yourselves on paid leave, take a vacation, join UNIT if you're bored, they're legally the ones in charge of rebuilding." He smiled. "Hey, maybe we can finally get that arcade game Owen keeps going on about."

The Torchwood team all had different reactions but none of them were positive. This job was their life. Apart from Gwen and Mickey, most of them had lost touch with the rest of humanity, focusing instead on defending it. Everything they did was connected to Torchwood. What the hell were they supposed to do now?

Martha, too, was a little dejected; there was her plan out the window. She'd already decided she was going to leave, she had to. Rose was back and it was clear to her that - no matter what Joan told her back in 1913 - the Doctor was capable of love; for bringing someone on board because he wanted to be with them and not because he needed someone to stop him from trying to kill himself every five minutes, which was what she seemed to be doing since she'd started travelling with him. She needed to get out: one; because it wasn't fair on her, the Doctor wanted her to become like Rose, and she wasn't she was her own person, and two; he didn't need that anymore, didn't need her anymore. Not once when they were with the managers did he offer himself up to them, when he fought against them; he defended himself, when the vents, or pumps, or whatever started backfiring and the 456 started attacking; he didn't put himself in harm's way to get them to stop.

It wasn't right for her to stay. But now what was she going to do? She let out a slow breath and tried to compose her thoughts. She looked around to see if anyone noticed the look on her face but all of them seemed too concerned with their own problems. But then she caught Mickey looking at her, he gave her a sympathetic look, which she returned.

"But we might not have the hub, but things are still going come through the rift. How will UNIT monitor them now that we don't have the equipment?" Mickey asked.

"Ermm, yeah about that." the Doctor began. "The Tardis was due a good refuel anyway and after ferrying so many people about, she'll close up the rift for a good six months or so, until the rift replenishes itself."

"So that's that then." Gwen said angrily, dropping her hands dramatically to her sides. "No more Torchwood?"

"For the time being." Jack said sadly.

"What about you, Jack? What will you do?" Ianto asked.

Jack sighed. "I've been working a long time. It's time I took a vacation."

Mickey scoffed. "Aint you got a mixed up idea for a holiday." he muttered to himself.

"Will you ever come back?" Gwen asked, seeing right through him.

"To Torchwood? I dunno." Jack admitted truthfully, the team looked heart broken and it made him feel so guilty; if looks could kill. But he'd been waiting for this for more than a century. He missed his home, his own time, and most of all, more than anything, he missed travelling with the Doctor and Rose Tyler. No paperwork, no worrying about money, no Time Agency rules and regulations, nothing but fun and adventure, excitement and danger, laughter and tears, he was free. "I've been here too long… I've lost touch." he added.

"So what you're just going to up and leave?" Gwen asked angrily.

"No, I'll visit now and again. And it looks like I'll still be in Cardiff for a few days, we need to make sure the tech that survived the blast doesn't fall into the wrong hands, and then there's the paper work, which you all have to do by the way." Jack looked at Rose. "Yes, even you Rosie."

The team grumbled and groaned in protest, but the air was too heavy for it to be seen as comical.

Jack held his hands up in mock surrender, still trying to lighten the mood. "Hey, hey, if you rather do mine, which is about this thick –" Jack made a space with his fingers to indicate the thickness; about the size of the last Harry Potter book by the looks of it. "-by the way, then be my guest."

That earned a few smiles from the team but they were so dejected that their leader was leaving it was more out of courtesy than something that actually made them feel better.

"Does that mean you're leaving too?" Tosh asked Rose.

Rose was startled by the sudden shift in focus. All the teams eyes were on her. She wanted to look away but she forced herself to face them. "Yeah." she nodded weekly.

Tosh and Ianto looked like a puppy watching their owner drive away after being left on the side of the road. They were quitting, both of them?

Owen and Gwen looked furious. Their leader and their –basically – co-leader were leaving to saunter off with some alien. Owen glared at the Doctor, ready to give him a piece of his mind. Just what was so great about him anyway?

Sensing the arising tension, Harriet quickly spoke first. "Sorry to interrupt, but I think perhaps this can be postponed for another time. UNIT is ready and waiting for the prisoners to arrive, and I rather think the prisoners themselves are quite scared, being left on the ship without any form of communication from us or Blake Peters' associates." Harriet turned to face the Doctor, who looked just as depressed as the rest of them but perked up once he realised all the attention was on him.

"Right, yes. Back on the Tardis, Mickey, Martha, Jack, Rose. We've got people to save."

"Right." agreed Jack, turning hastily back to the Tardis. "We'll meet you back at gym HQ." he added. "We'll finish this later."

A few seconds later, the blue box faded away.

* * *

_The Time Vortex – aboard the Tardis_

It felt so nice to be clean and feeling fresh. Rose had asked the Doctor if she had time for a quick shower before they went to save the prisoners, and he'd said yes. She felt like a new person … and that person was shattered, absolutely exhausted. She needed to rest, just five minutes that's all it was. Just a quick nap on the bed Rose told herself, just a five minute nap in her old Tardis room, just to take the edge off. Some time to think about the team. She shoved on some old trackies – not having the energy to bother with anything more – and flopped on the bed. Yeah, just five minutes.

"Rose." she heard her name being called softly. Where was she again?

"Rose." there it was again, someone was shaking her arm. And she was pretty sure that someone was the Doctor.

Oh, she'd fallen asleep… again.

She was meant to say 'Yes?' but it came out like more of a. "Hurr?"

Rose groggily sat up on the bed, thanking the havens that she'd had the good sense to get dressed before she'd lay down on the bed. The Doctor was sitting on the edge and smiled when she began to stir. "Yeah, sorry, I must've fell asleep again."

"Really? And here I thought you were drooling for the fun of it." the Doctor joked, causing Rose to wipe at her mouth and shoot him a glare when there was nothing there.

The Doctor chuckled. "How are you feeling?"

Rose talked as she rubbed her eyes. "Like I want to sleep for another day or two." she complained.

The Doctor put his hand on her back for support as she swung her legs over the side of bed. Her muscles cried out but she refused to show it. The Doctor had been so frightened of being separated again, that any sort of issue seemed to terrify him. "How long was I out?" she asked.

"About two hours and fifty-three minutes."

"Wot! That long?" Rose blanched, rushing to get off the bed. "Wot about the prisoners? And the managers?"

The Doctor reached his hand out to calm her. "It's alright, Rose, we've dealt with it. I did try and get you up but you yelled something along the lines of 'sod off' so I thought, best leave you be, eh?"

Rose blinked, stopping in her panic. "I did?"

"Yep."

"God, I was more knackered than I thought." she said as she slumped back on the bed.

"Yeah, right out of it you were. You didn't even wake up when I landed the Tardis and it was a bumpy journey en all."

Rose tried to remember the sensation of being shook about but nothing came to mind.

"So, everythin' went alright? You got the prisoners out and stuff."

"Yeah, all sorted, Bobs your uncle, okie dokie."

"Then, where are we now?"

"That Gym/base you were using as a hideout." His voice change, the happiness sucked right out of it. "Jack said he had some things to take care of and you'd want to be there too."

Rose nodded in understanding.

The Doctor opened his mouth to say something but stopped himself, before he tried again, words coming out this time. "Rose." he began seriously. "You know you don't have to go… if you don't want to."

Rose let out a long sigh, she knew this was coming.

Of all the times she thought about travelling with the Doctor again, not once did she feel that she'd miss her old life once she did. She knew she'd miss her mum for a little bit, but then she'd pop in for a visit and she'd be fine. But after seeing the other's faces, she knew that wouldn't be the case. She'd built a life for herself here; one that she was satisfied with, one that she felt she made a difference without relying on the Doctor's help. She'd made good friends, she had her family, she wasn't sad all day every day, although the pain of losing him never went away, it had begun to dull at certain times.

But if she really thought about it, she needed to go. She cared about her new friends, and she was happy to make a difference, but the job itself was … complicated.

"No." she said after a while.

The Doctor raised his eyebrows, turning to face her. "No? Rose, are you sure? I cou-."

"No, no. It's not that." she assured. "I don't want to stay."

The Doctor suddenly went ridged, he looked like the rug had just been pulled from under him, like he'd been stabbed straight through the chest. "What?" he uttered, his voice breaking.

Rose quickly realised she'd not been clear enough.

"Torchwood" she blurted out. "I don't want to stay with Torchwood." she quickly clarified, the Doctor remained still. "Yeah, working for Jack's great and everything but there's only so much of Cardiff I can take." Rose laughed nervously, trying to lessen the tension.

The Doctor still didn't move, not until several seconds later when he let out a long breath. "Oh." he said, still a little shaken. "I thought you meant…"

"Yeah, I know, sorry." she said, inwardly cursing herself. The Doctor was fragile at the moment, and here she was making him worse. She had to put this right, _he_ needed _her_ right now. "Doctor, listen, yeah?" She turned so that their bodies were mirroring each other on the bed, and took him by the shoulders so he was looking directly at her. He looked scared but didn't resist. "It's never going to be _that_. I said I was never goin' to leave and I meant it. I'm with you until you tell me to go. Got it?" she said sternly.

The Doctor was quiet, taking it all in. "Got it." he said timidly.

Rose released his arms. "Right, so, are we at the gym now, or are we about to head off, or…?"

"We're in the vortex, I came to wake you up before we land." he explained, snapping back into his usual 'I'm always alright' façade.

Rose energetically pushed herself off of the bed. "So, off we go then?" she held out her hand to help him up. He took it but didn't put any of his weight into it as he stood up. "What did you say before? Alan –ze?" she asked

The Doctor genuinely smirked at her; success. "Allons-y." he corrected.

"Right then Allons-y." she said, mimicking the Doctor's usual enthusiasm.

"Allons – y." the Doctor said, not copying Rose's enthusiasm as she hoped, but there was a level of pride in his voice that told her she'd at least made him feel a little better.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? The sleeping beauty has finally awoken from her slumber." Jack announced as they entered the console room. He was adjusting the controls on the console, Martha and Mickey looking nervously over his shoulder. "How'd ya sleep, Rosie?"

"Like a log." she retorted flatly, the Doctor moving past her to the console.

"Ready to face the music?" Jack asked seriously.

"Yeah." she said honestly.

"Right!" the Doctor announced. "Hold on everyone. Here we go. Allons –y." he grinned at Rose, as the Tardis shuddered into action.

* * *

_Kennington – London_

As team Tardis opened the door and stepped out, they were instantly thrown into a scene of total chaos.

They had forgotten about Clem.

They had just materialised right in front of him.

Oh dear.

Clem was frantic; manic, he was throwing his head to the side so violently, repeating 'It's him' over and over, that it took Rose a bit longer than normal to notice the gun in his hand. Luckily, the Doctor was already standing in front of her by the time she had.

Owen and Tosh had their guns trained on Clem, fingers on the trigger. Ianto was holding a resisting Sophie in his arms, trying to keep her a safe distance away, Rhys was watching the scene play out, pure terror on his face, his eyes never leaving Gwen. Gwen was the closest, she had her hands held up, her palms facing Clem, so she was as unthreatening as possible, cautiously approaching him.

"It's him!" Clem cried, wildly waving the gun at Jack, who had put himself in front of the whole of team Tardis, Mickey behind him; besides the Doctor, protecting Martha. "It's him Sophie, it's the man who took me away." Clem said, his eyes teary and frenzied, suddenly moving the gun towards the Doctor and Rose. "And look they're working with him, they're a part of it."

But as Clem's eyes moved to the Doctor, the Doctor suddenly winced and rapidly brought a hand to his face, pinching the bridge of his nose, like he was trying to sooth a really bad headache. "Doctor?" Rose whispered to him, grabbing his free hand. He lowered his hand from his face and squeezed the one holding hers.

"He's one of them Sophie, I could smell it then, I can smell it now." Clem wailed, while frantically looking back at his adopted sister, not noticing the Doctor's distress. Jack and Mickey clocked that something was up with the Time Lord, but didn't react, in fear of escalating the situation.

"Clem it's, alright." Gwen tried to sooth, snapping Clem's attention to her. "He's on our side."

Clem laughed humourlessly. "Our side? But you're all on _his_ side." He pointed the gun back at Jack. "You were in every nightmare I ever had." he seethed, the years of living with the aftermath of his abduction bubbling to the surface.

Jack sighed, his arms up in surrender. "I'm sorry."

Clem swung the gun back towards the Doctor and Rose.

"And you two, you said no one would hurt me anymore. But you're all just the same." Clem took a step closer to them, the Doctor and Rose tensed but Jack stepped between them.

"Look they had nothing to do with it. It was all me. I'm so sorry." Jack pleaded.

"Please Clem, stop." Sophie begged, her face streaked with tears and snot, Ianto still holding her back.

Clem's attention instantly shifted to his sister, his own eyes filling with tears. "But he gave me away Sophie, he'll do the same to you too!" he pleaded for her to understand.

Sophie edged closer, Ianto hesitantly releasing his hold. "I promise they won't." she said as she slowly placed her hand over the muzzle of the gun, and looked straight into her brother's eyes. "Trust me."

Clem studied her for a few long moments before sighing and letting go of the gun. Sophie's hands dropped, surprised by how heavy it was as she shakily turned to Owen, who quickly marched up and took the gun off her, causing a wave of relief to ripple through the room.

Owen and the rest of Torchwood looked to Jack for what to do next, but Jack was still focused on Clem; the situation was still volatile from where he was standing. He still didn't know what had just happened with the Doctor.

"Thank you." Jack told Clem sincerely. "Your sister here looks pretty shaken up." He glanced at Sophie, causing Clem to look back at her. "Why don't you take her to your studio upstairs and help her calm down?"

Clem thought for a moment, glaring unblinkingly at Jack.

"He's right, Clem." agreed Sophie, putting her hand on his shoulder from behind. "I need a rest."

Clem blinked, snapping himself out of his earlier mood. "You need a rest." he said, hooking his arm around Sophie's and slowly walking up the stairs, looking back nervously as he did so. "You need a rest." he kept repeating to himself.

The rest of the room kept their eyes fixated on Clem until he shut the door of their studio room. As soon as he did the whole group let out the breath they'd been holding and the tense atmosphere dissipated.

"Bloody hell, man." Rhys complained, moving towards Gwen. "That was too close, too close."

Meanwhile Rose stepped next to the Doctor, lightly grabbing his arm with her free hand. "Are you alright?" Rose asked instantly, at the same time as Mickey asked Martha the same thing.

"Yeah." Martha smiled. "Same old, same old."

"No, no, I'm fine." the Doctor took a big sniff. "Powerful telepath." he explained.

"Clem?" Tosh asked loudly, shocked to hear such information, causing the rest of Torchwood to shush her, and the Doctor to let go of Rose's hand. "He's an alien?" she whispered.

The whole group turned to face the Doctor. "Yep." he said flatly.

"Well it would make sense." Owen shrugged, speaking quietly. "Why the 456 left him behind in the first place, why he has those abilities, there was no father listed on his records, maybe that's the reason. It wouldn't be the first time." he explained.

"But wouldn't the carers at the orphanage recognise something like that?" Gwen questioned.

"Maybe not." said the Doctor. "My guess is that his abilities were triggered by the abduction itself, it's not unheard of for traumatic events to awaken dormant abilities, especially given the fact that..." He stopped and turned to Rose. "Clem was it?" Rose nodded. "That Clem's abilities are telepathic in nature."

"So you know what he is?" Tosh asked the Doctor.

"Hmm." the Doctor rubbed the back of his head. "Human in appearance, extremely strong sense of smell, high – level telepath even without training, hmm, what else, what else?" he mumbled to himself.

"He knew Frobisher's men were coming before they arrived." Rose added eagerly.

"Yeah, he knew you lot were coming too." Gwen added.

"Okay so; human in appearance, strong sense of smell; enough to tell I wasn't human, high – level telepath, no make that extremely high –level telepathic emitter; able to give my barriers a serious thrashing without even trying, and all without training, either time sensitive, or an acute awareness of time lines." The Doctor thought a little longer. "I'd say he's a, or at least half a, Sigda. Usually they have bigger irises than humans, and are a bit shorter, sometimes a pinkish colouring to the skin." he rambled on. "Funny thing is they normally need training to become that powerful, so that makes me think he's -at most - half human." The Doctor paused. "A hybrid you could say, makes him more powerful."

"So what do we do with him?" Jack asked.

"Nothing." the Doctor said simply. "Human's don't have the capacity to be hurt by him, and meeting you was an extreme situation. Just let both of them go home and I'm sure he'll be fine."

Jack nodded.

"Jack!" Owen hissed, dragging Jack by the arm to somewhere more private. "You sure about this?" Owen looked back at the Doctor, who was glaring at him.

"Absolutely, there's no better expert than the Doctor, so what he say's goes. Understand?" Jack warned.

Owen was hesitant, he scanned Jack's face for any hint of fear but found none. He nodded and hesitantly let go of Jack's arm.

The team had had plenty of time to ask around about this 'Doctor,' and UNIT were all too happy to brag about his achievements. Honestly, it seemed hard to believe that this 'guy' - if he was that - could do all the things UNIT said he had. So, they decided to run an in depth search on UNIT's database once they got back. And not only was it all true, but they'd found out that he was the one who obliterated Torchwood I. And now UNIT had updated their files, adding Rose Tyler and Captain Jack Harkness to 'the Doctor's' list of associates. The footnote at the bottom of their profile was basically UNIT giving them a free pass to do whatever the fuck they wanted; 'if confronted, under no circumstances, should any officer, of any rank; threaten, harm, endanger, intimidate, or offend, in any way shape or form. And any request for assistance should be met with the upmost urgency.'

All that freedom just because they _knew_ the Doctor? What power he had. Owen was sure to watch his mouth around him.

"So, what now?" Ianto asked.

Jack turned to address the whole team, scanning each of their faces. "Everything packed up?" he asked.

"Just the last few pieces, sir." Ianto confirmed formally.

Jack looked around as though he was inspecting the place. "Well I wasn't kidding about the paperwork, we need estimates, see how long Torchwood will really be out of commission and we need to find somewhere to store all our equipment." Jack let out a sigh, his voice turning more serious. "And you'll all need to seriously think about what you want to do now, even if you stick together and stay in Cardiff there won't be much to do, not until the rift replenishes itself in a few months."

Rhys looked relieved, thank God a break, but all the others looked depressed and lost.

"Think about it, finish packing up and take Clem home, and we'll meet all of you at the usual Chinese place tomorrow, at 7pm sharp." he paused. "It'll give us a chance to have a proper goodbye." Jack said sorrowfully. "A last horah so to speak."

The others nodded and Jack turned towards the Doctor, his tone lighter. "So, we've got one more trip before we head to Cardiff, am I right Rosie?"

The Doctor looked confused.

"We need to see Sarah – Jane." Rose explained, leaning up to speak into his ear.

"Well, that, and we need to close the loop." Team Tardis looked completely dumbfounded, causing Jack to smirk at their reactions. "Well, clearly you didn't notice back there, but Clem seemed to know you two, and since – as far as I know – you two have never met, then I'm guessing we have a time loop on our hands."

"That's right." added Tosh. "He said you'd promised him, no one would hurt him anymore."

"Hmm, true." admitted the Doctor. "Do we know what happened to him after he was taken?"

"According to his sister, he was picked up by a travelling salesman; a Mr James McCrimmon?" Gwen told the Doctor, unsure whether the information was helpful or not. "Took him to the local police station in East Grinsted."

"James McCrimmon?" Rose asked, looking at the Doctor. "That's the name you used in Scotland."

"You're right, I remember." The Doctor focused back on Gwen. "Was there a date, on the report?"

Gwen wasn't so sure to Tosh spoke up. "Yes, around three AM, November 19th 1965."

"But that was only a few hours after the exchange with the 456, there was no way he could've gotten there from Scotland on his own."

"So, it must've been you, then." Martha added.

"Yeah, must be." the Doctor agreed thoughtfully before dialling it to eleven. "Well what are we standing around for?! Rose, Jack, Mickey, Martha, it's best to knock time loops out of the way as quick as possible." The Doctor turned and headed straight back into the Tardis with Rose close behind.

Jack turned and saluted the team before heading into the Tardis, Torchwood watching him as he shut the doors behind him before reluctantly returning to packing up the rest of the equipment and checking on Clem.

Martha didn't move, since Jack said his bit she thought that would've been the best time to say hers as well, but now it seemed like she'd missed her chance.

"Hey." Mickey said, sensing something was off. "Sorry about the whole Torchwood thing, but, y'know, it'd been a rough couple of days, so I sort of forgot my job blew up, so yeah." he explained awkwardly.

Martha blurted out laughing. "Kind of an important thing to forget."

Mickey looked a little guilty.

"But no it's okay, I'll find something." she said dismissively, waving a hand at him.

"So, you're leaving then?" he asked, unable to hide the hope coming through in his voice.

"Yeah, the timings just right, and I want some time with my family."

"Right." Mickey nodded, looking a little disappointed.

"And what about you? What are you going to do now that Torchwoods gone?"

"I think I might freelance. I don't really fancy working for UNIT and I know people who've done it before, so I figured I might as well try." he tried to play it off as no big deal but Martha could see right through him.

"Well…" Martha added hesitantly. "If you need any help, look me up." she smiled.

Mickey beamed but tried to hide how chuffed he really was. "Well, if that's the case, it might help if I have your number then, y'know, to make looking you up a lot easier." he said quickly.

Martha smirked, impressed. "That was pretty smooth you know. You have a pen?"

Mickey was a little shocked that the line had actually worked, then panicked a little when he realised he didn't actually have a pen. He tried to play it off "Nah, just tell me, I'm good with numbers, I'll remember."

Martha opened her mouth to speak.

"MARTHA! MICKEY!" The Doctor called, popping his head out of the Tardis doors. "Hurry up will you? We've got people to see, places to go."

Mickey sighed in frustration. "YEAH ONE SECOND!" he called back impatiently.

The Doctor rolled his eyes and disappeared back into the Tardis, but both of them knew it was only going to be a few more seconds before he reappeared.

"You should come to Sarah – Jane's." Mickey suggested. "I know the Doctor's going to ask me if I want to come, and it'll be less crowed there, you can say goodbye then, and if you come, then _trust_ me, you'll be in for a show en all."

Martha raised her eyebrow. A show sounded interesting.

* * *

_Thirteen Bannerman Road – Ealing_

If there was one thing Jackie Tyler loved it was a good natter. And since Pete had taken Tony for a walk by the duck pond, and the teenagers were up in the loft playing video games. She was free to natter to her hearts content. And of all the topics she could natter about - and there were numerous - there was no topic than she loved to natter about more than her own personal life. But, bar Pete, Mickey and Rose, – who were her personal life - she hardly ever had the opportunity to natter honestly. Aliens, monsters, and God knew what else, who wouldn't think she was a nutter?

Yet, here she was with two parents; Sarah – Jane, who was apparently the Doctor's ex or something, which was weird, but given the opportunity she gave Jackie to chat, she took it, and Alan Jackson; Maria's dad, who was a new comer to aliens, and just so happened to have lots of questions about what to do when your daughter is off fighting aliens every other day.

Yes, this was a very rare chance for an honest natter indeed.

"I mean what if she gets an alien boyfriend… or girlfriend?" Alan asked with a shrug, slumping back into the sofa he was sitting on. "How will the Christmas's work? Like what if they have two heads or something? I mean it's her choice in the end but it half keeps me up at night."

Jackie brushed some crumbed off her jeans and on to the floor, adjusting her position on the sofa opposite, talking causally like she was down the hair dressers. "I tell ya, it aint sommin you get used to."

Alan's face fell. "What so, your daughter?"

Jackie nodded. "Oh yeah." She waved her hand between her and Sarah – Jane, who was sitting in an armchair between the two of them. She wasn't really asking the questions but Jackie could tell she was taking in everything she was saying. "'ow do you think we all know each other?"

"So, how do you deal with it? Where you even begin?" Alan seemed desperate to know. But when else would he get a chance to ask someone experiencing the same thing as he was?

"Well you've always got to expect the unexpected. You mentioned Christmas, last Christmas I 'ad with 'im he turned up on my door with a whole new face and my poor Rose in tears. Next thing I know there's a great bloody spaceship in the sky and I'm almost killed by a Christmas tree."

Alan was stunned. "A…? Sorry, did you say a Christmas tree?" he asked, leaning forward from the sofa and tilting his head to the side as though he'd misheard.

"Yeah! Tore my flat up like it was made of tissue paper. You should've seen the looks I got from the council. They thought I was right off my head." Jackie took a sip from her tea from the coffee table in front of her.

Maria's dad, however, looked absolutely stunned. "And is she okay? Your daughter?"

"Yeah," Jackie said with a dismissive wave of her hand. " 'e looks after her dun he. It all worked out in the end."

Alan processed this information for a while, completely befuddled. "But what if they didn't? What if, I don't know, they tried to eat her or something?" he asked.

"That's the thing, though." Jackie said softly. "You've gotta trust 'at whoever – or whatever – they choose, they got enough common sense to tell 'em when to hit the road."

Alan nodded and considered it for a moment. "But what if there's something they do that annoys you. How do you approach that?"

"Tell 'em and if they don't listen give 'em a good slap."

This time both Sarah – Jane's and Alan's faces fell. "You're not serious." Alan scoffed.

"Course I am."

Alan was a bit stumped "Right." He said meekly, his neurons firing at twice their normal rate. "But what if they turn around and eat you?"

"Listen if they cared at all about your daughter then they wouldn't dare 'urt ya cos they know, if they did they'd send 'em on their way an' not look back. So I'm tellin ya, if they get out ov line don't be afraid to put 'em in their place."

"And did that work for you? Slapping your daughter's boyfriends?"

"It's not about the slap, it's putting them in their place, setting boundaries, otherwise they just take the piss. But yes it did. 'e always brought 'er back home after that."

"But Jackie." Sarah – Jane asked. "You're not talking about the Doctor are you?"

"To right I am. And if I see 'im again 'e's gettin much more than a slap this time around. Putting my Rose through all that."

"You actually slapped the Doctor." Sarah - Jane said astonished.

"Sorry the Doctor?"

Suddenly, Sarah – Jane's watch went crazy and Mr Smith could be heard from the loft.

"Sarah – Jane incoming temporal anomaly"

The adults got up in a panic.

"Wot's going on?" shrieked Jackie.

"Something's entered the perimeter." Sarah – Jane rushed out of the room and the others quickly followed. She whirled to face them "Stay here." she said, palm out towards them. "I'll send the children down, I promise but please stay. You'll only make it worse"

Alan knew there wasn't time to argue so nodded. Jackie huffed a little and folded her arms but she stayed where she was.

Sarah – Jane powered up the stairs and sprinted into the attic. "Mr Smith what is it? What's happening?"

"Mum!" Luke cried. Sarah – Jane rushed over to him.

"We were just playing video games and Mr Smith went crazy." Clyde explained.

"There's an incoming spatial transference." Luke tried to elaborate, but none understood.

Sarah – Jane's eyes flickered back and forth as she tried to work out what it was. When the answer hit her full force; she relaxed. "Why, yes of course." she muttered to herself, before looking up at Mr Smith. "Mr Smith, let it through." Sarah Jane commanded.

Mr Smith obeyed.

"But Sarah – Jane what is it?" asked Clive still a bit panicked.

"Not what, who. Everyone your about to meet a very old friend of mine."

The room started to fill with a whooshing, grinding sound, like an old car engine mixed with metal scraping metal. Slowly a blue box started to faze into the room before fazing out again, growing in solidity until it was no longer transparent. There was a final thwump of the engines and the noise died down.

"Is that what I think it is?" Clyde asked.

"Oh, yes."

"It's the Doctor, the Doctor's here?" Maria asked excitedly.

"Yes, and I have a feeling he won't be alone."

The Tardis doors creaked open and Rose and Mickey poked their heads out.

The teens' faces lit up and rushed towards them. "Mickey, Rose!" the cried, wasting no time bombarding them with questions about their adventure.

Mickey and Rose walked away from the doors so the others could get out, leading the teens away in the process. The attic was spacious enough but the Tardis was parked right dab in the middle, which made moving about a bit tricky. The children were so engrossed with Mickey and Rose's return, that they didn't realise the doors of the Tardis had opened again.

"Hello, Sarah – Jane." said the Doctor softly.

All the children stopped and looked.

"Doctor." Sarah - Jane smiled, before they both stepped forward and gave each other a big hug.

"Oh, It's good to see you again." Sarah – Jane said warmly.

"You too." The Doctor looked around the room as he pulled away from Sarah - Jane. "Blimey bit of a crowd in here."

Meanwhile Jack and Martha stepped out of the Tardis, just as Rose started to hear the faint stomping of angry footsteps up the stairs.

Uh oh.

"Er Doctor." Rose said cautiously, but before she had the chance to finish what she was about to say Jackie Tyler stormed into the room.

"Oh look what the cat dragged in." she yelled.

The Doctor's face fell instantly. "Jac –"

Before the Doctor could utter another syllable Jackie marched across the room and slapped the Doctor full force across the cheek. Alan peered around the corner just in time to see the Doctor stumble backwards from the impact.

Martha looked in stunned horror to Mickey, who cheekily smirked, letting her know that this was what he meant by 'a show.' Jack was trying his best to stifle a laugh, finding the situation absolutely hilarious, while everyone else looked on, unable to look away, like they were watching a car crash in slow motion.

"Mum!" Rose protested.

"Don't you start." Jackie warned.

Jackie turned back to the Doctor who was now rubbing his very painful cheek. "You." she seethed, pointing an accusing finger at him. "You've got some nerve to show your face round 'ere after what you did. Just leaving my Rose like that without so much as a goodbye, 'artbroken she was, 'artbroken."

"Mum." Rose tried to explain, but was ignored. Jackie still thought that it was the Doctor who'd dropped them all off in Manchester, she had something to say and she was going to say it, so Rose would just have to wait.

"And what were you thinkin' just leavin' us on some random estate. We didn't 'av a penny between us. It was lucky Mo was still around or Tony woulda've slept in a bloody cardboard box."

Rose attempted to protest again but Jackie ignored her once more, launching straight into her second point. "And another thing, you better start treating 'im better-" she pointed at Jack. " - if you eva want to step foot in my house again." The Doctor's eyes looked speedily between Jack and Jackie. "Oh don't look so surprised, I know all about you and Jack Hunkness –"

"It's.. it's Harkness." the Doctor squeaked, one hand still on his cheek.

"Don't try and change the subject." she snapped. "You left 'im behind in the middle ov nowhere." Jackie paused and her voice suddenly became a lot quieter and sad. " 'E gave 'is life for you. "

There was a, sudden, obvious shift in the Doctor's mood, he looked sullen and hurt, and cast his eyes down to the floor.

"Mum." Rose said more sharply, she was crossing a line.

But Jackie continued to ignore her and she switched back into her angry rant. "And don't think Mickey didn't tell me about you and that madam Poppadom. If I knew about it then; getting a new face would be the least of your troubles." she ranted as her eyes briefly glanced downwards, making it _quite_ clear what she was implying.

"MUM!" Rose yelled, finally getting Jackie's attention.

Jackie turned around to look at her as Rose explained. "Mum, look it's alright. We've already talked about it." she said calmly.

Jackie looked at Jack. "That true?"

"As true as your tea is divine." he said charmingly.

Jackie looked back at the Doctor, realising for the first time that she might have been a little too harsh; calling him out in front of everyone. The Doctor still hadn't looked at anyone, Jackie could tell he wanted to wiggle out of the situation but was forcing himself to stay, obviously thinking he deserved it. And maybe he did? Especially for treating her Rose like that, but if Jackie knew anything about the Doctor it was that he might be a nine-hundred and whatever year old Time Lord, but he had the emotional intelligence of a toddler.

Jackie relaxed and softened her voice. "Come 'ere." she motioned her hands out to the Doctor for a hug.

The Doctor looked up at her, and quickly surveyed the room, thinking she was talking to Rose. He had a brief look of confusion on this face as he clocked Jackie was actually talking to him, before dipping his head again in defeat and silently stepping forward.

Jackie threw his arms around him. The Doctor became ridged and froze up, not sure what to do. "What are we goin' to do with you, eh?" she asked softly, as she started to rub his back.

The Doctor, slowly but tightly returned the hug, still hurt from what she had said earlier.

They stayed like for a few more moments before Jackie released him. "Now that that's over and dun with, 'ow about a nice cup of tea? Pete'll be back with Tony later, you can meet him."

The Doctor seemed to compose himself and his expression changed. "You know what Jackie tea sounds lovely."

"Alrigh' then downstairs everyone. Way to crowded in 'ere with that thing in the way." said Jackie, as her turned and started to leave the room, Alan quickly getting out of her way.

Not wanting to face the wrath of Jackie Tyler, everyone else in the room obeyed and followed her out.

* * *

A few hours later and things seemed to have calmed down, but Martha still had one thing on her mind. She'd played it over and over in her head, but just hadn't been able to get the Doctor alone. Wherever Rose went, he went, but luckily it seemed Rose was still really tired from whatever work she'd been made to do and had passed out on a sofa in the living room. And while the teenagers sniggered around her, deciding whether or not they were going to draw something on her face; the Doctor had gone to off to find Mickey.

"Nah, boss. I'm good here." Martha heard Mickey say as she stepped into the back garden. She kept her distance as the conversation continued.

"You sure?" the Doctor asked.

"Yeah." Mickey said casually. "I was never really one for travelling, I like it better here."

The Doctor nodded in understanding. "So… what will you do now?"

Mickey puffed air out his cheeks. "Freelance, maybe?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Hey, it worked well for Sarah – Jane, it could work for me." Mickey explained.

The Doctor smiled. "Fair enough." He paused for a little while, debating whether or not to speak. "What happened to your gran, by the way? She didn't get pulled back with you? Or…?"

Mickey smiled, happy that the Doctor remembered enough about his life, and cared enough to ask. "No, no she didn't."

"Oh, I'm sorry." the Doctor said sincerely.

"No, it's okay. She passed away before we left, she went nice and peaceful in her mansion. And I was there with her this time, so she wasn't alone."

The Doctor nodded sadly. "Well at least that's something."

"Yeah." Mickey smiled. "So, see you later then, Boss?" he said, as he held out a fist.

The Doctor gave a lopsided smiled and bumped his own fist to Mickey's. "See you later."

Mickey backed up and left the garden, winking to Martha on his way past her and mouthing 'good luck' to her.

The Doctor didn't notice her right away. Martha half-thought she should back out now and wait a while, feeling like she was kicking the Doctor when he was down. But she was ready now, and this was the best time to do it.

"Doctor?" she stepped forward, nervously.

"Martha!" he said happily.

"Yeah, I think I'm going to go too."

His face fell instantly. "What?"

She pointed her thumb behind her. "Yeah, my mum's house isn't too far from here, so I can just get the tube."

"You're leaving?" the Doctor said in disbelief. "As in leaving, _leaving_?"

"Yeah." Martha said sadly.

"It this because of Rose?" he asked instantly. "Because she's really nice and I'm sure she wouldn't mind yo-"

"It's not really about that." she explained, her voice shaky from the nerves.

"Then why?"

Martha thought for a moment, then sighed. "Okay, maybe it's a bit about that." Martha quickly raised a hand to silence the Doctor's oncoming argument. "But it not's what you think." she explained quickly, before calming herself again. "It's just seeing you with Rose, and with everyone else, it's made me realise you've not exactly been fair to me. I mean, I know you like having me around, but, it's like you don't actually know me… because you want me to turn into someone else."

The Doctor hung his head, and Martha knew she'd made him understand.

"And I'm not her _, I'm not Rose, Doctor_." She laughed humourlessly. "I'm _me_ , I'm my own person. And I got hurt today because of it, and I'm not blaming you for that part, I'm not, you care about her and you did what anyone would've done in that situation. But, I can't put my life at risk like that again, and if I stay I will be. I've got a family here, if I'd died they'd never know what happened to me. So, it's been great while it lasted…but, I've got to get out."

The Doctor nodded weekly, looking devastated.

Martha wasn't sure what to do next, should she hug him goodbye, say something more, or just leave? "Keep my phone." she decided on. "Because, I'm not waiting ages if –when - I need your help."

The Doctor nodded again, staying silent, searching for her phone in his jacket pocket before and holding it up to her, before putting it back.

She scanned him with her eyes, he wasn't going to say anything. She walked towards the wooden gate to the side of the garden, before running up and giving him one last hug.

"Goodbye, Doctor." she said, turning to look at him one last time.

"Goodbye, Martha Jones." he said sadly as she walked away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Epilogue
> 
> When: In like thirty minutes.
> 
> Other notes: (in old lady Rose voice from the Titanic) It's been 84 years... and I've finally finished the last full length chapter. Sorry this one is more little sub chapters than an actual nice flowing long chapter, I had to tie up all the loose ends, but I hope you like it anyway.


	27. Epilogue

The screams filled Clem's ears. He tried to turn and run away but he was in a completely different place; there was no road, or bus, or houses that disappeared into the sky. Now there were just machines, and wires, and bright electronic lights.

Something strong yanked him backwards, he flew so far backwards that the air made a sound as it whooshed past his ears. Something else, something horrible and slimy grabbed his hands and legs he tried to scream but something covered his face and wiggled into his skin like a wormy splinter.

He could still hear his friends screaming but one after the other they stopped.

Clem was more scared than he'd ever been in his whole life.

He needed to get out right now.

He needed to get out!

OUT!

He wiggled, and squirmed, and fought, as hard as he could. There was a creepy crawly going into his nose. He could feel it! He closed his eyes against the bright light and kept fighting as hard as he could.

He knew; he knew. If he didn't get away now he'd be stuck like this forever. He didn't know how he knew, he just did. He was terrified, he wanted to cry and hide and give up but he knew he couldn't.

He didn't want to be stuck like this. He wanted to live!

He needed to, fight,

fight,

fight!

With his final shred of effort he pulled as hard he could. He could hear a hissing sound behind him and his arm started to move.

But then, the lights above him turned red and there was a siren, like he'd heard on the TV.

Suddenly there was nothing but light; the same light that filled up the whole sky.

He felt himself falling, like he was on the scary part of a rollercoaster. He landed on something wet, something cold and soft.

He felt it with his hands. It felt like grass. He could smell it was grass, for some reason the smell was stronger than he'd ever thought was possible. He opened his eyes.

It was grass.

There were a hundred new smells, smells he never knew existed but somehow knew what they meant.

And he knew something else, his friends were still up there and the things that took them were still watching.

So he ran.

And ran.

And ran.

He knew he needed to get away. It was dark and he was falling and tripping over the uneven ground, his legs hurt, and he was pretty sure he had cut himself. But no matter what he ran.

He saw a wall; a tall, stone, wall up ahead. No, it was dark he couldn't see it, he could smell it, he could sense it, he needed to climb over it.

He scrabbled over the top as fast as he could, but just when he was at the top he lost his footing and tumbled down.

He thought he was going to die.

After everything he was going to die from falling off a wall, a stupid, stupid, wall.

He was inches from the ground when someone reached out to grab him. He looked up to see a man looking down at him with sad brown eyes and very messy hair. He was carrying him in his arms.

For some reason he could tell this man was different - like _them_. The man was very angry, the angriest man he met. He wasn't doing anything people normally do when they're angry but Clem just knew, he knew and he had no idea why, but he could tell. Like he could tell there was a wall even though it was dark.

"Oh my God, is he alright?" called a new voice, a woman's voice.

She ran up next to the man and looked straight at Clem in his arms. She wasn't different and her eyes were kind, she was kind, and because she was here, for some reason he knew the angry man wouldn't hurt him. "Doc – James, is he okay?"

"Looks okay to me." the man said happily, lowering Clem onto the ground. But Clem knew he was lying. "That was a close one, eh?"

Clem didn't know who these people were, they were strangers.

The woman crouched down to Clem's level so he could see her eyes. "It's okay you don't need to be scared, we'll take you somewhere safe alright?"

She wasn't a liar.

Somewhere safe sounded nice.

Clem nodded and the woman got up and took his hand.

The man and woman took him inside a magic police box, it was different like the man. They took him to a police station, far, far away where all the smells were different. They dropped him off at the desk and snuck out the door without saying goodbye, while all the policemen were talking.

He looked out the window just in time to see the magic police box disappear. But he wasn't sad. For some reason, he just knew; the angry man and the kind woman being here meant that everything was going to be okay, that he'd be looked after, that they'd see each other again someday.

That they'd make everything better in the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DUH DUH DUH! It's finally over. Honestly it's so satisfying to check that little completed box. Over 160,00 words, I played myself when I started planning this and said that it'd be no more that 100,000. Oh well! I had a lot of fun writing this, and I think it helped me improve a lot.
> 
> Thanks to everyone who stuck it through to the end, it really gave me motivation to keep writing. I hope you enjoyed how everything came together. 
> 
> That being said, I'm disappearing for a while to work on my other projects for this series. I like to plan and write everything first so I'll be a while. The next story will be very Rose/Ten heavy, as the Doctor is forced to spend a few nights in Cardiff with Rose's family and Jack while the Tardis refuels, they'll also be some elements of Torchwood's series one final 'the end of days,' but I'm still ironing out the details.


End file.
